Earth Land's Hero of Justice
by DalSlatyr
Summary: Shirou Emiya meets a Scarlet haired warrioress upon falling through the grail portal. Fate certainly works in weird ways, but to send someone to another world? (Story under revision)
1. In A Turn of Fate

**This is chapter one of my story for a challenge issued by Alex-kellar on Deviantart. I know the story below sucks, but it might get better... no... It'll suck until the end of time.**

 **** &%#$%!**

 **-I revised this pitiful first chapter. Don't get me wrong, it's still trash, but so is the rest of this story. I only have so much magic in me, sadly, I must _WASTE_ it on this mistake Dal left behind... Well then, see ya later, I have things to do.**

* * *

Shirou...

A once clueless Auburn Red haired sword magus unwillingly tossed into a war against people who were far more experienced than himself. A foolish boy who strove to save everyone, only to realize that it was impossible and settle for as many as possible.

Shirou, the son of the Magus Killer, was thrown back into the flames of his birth.

Confusion swept him off his feet only for shock and fear to catch him once he caught sight of their faces. Faces he had long since forgotten were perfectly recreated down to every last detail. Each and every one of them looked hopeless, calling out for help, reaching out to the young boy.

 _He ignored them._

A woman cried out with hopes that the boy would take her infantile offspring away from the painful inferno.

It didn't matter. Shirou had long since thrown away his emotions along with the ability to care for others. All that mattered right now was his own survival. He stepped over her near motionless body, making his way towards... where? He didn't know where he was going, he merely picked a direction and walked. After a while, he found it hard to hold on to his hope.

 _So he let it go._

Another part of himself gone to the flames.

A distinct crumbling noise sounded off to his right side. A quick glance spared him the sight of a wall coming down, collapsing down over him.

It was a good thing he let go of his hope. There was nothing worse than holding onto hope so that it could be torn away from your grip, just like what happened with all of the people that he walked past.

He fell motionless as he stared up at the sky, waiting for his end to come.

 _And then he came._

' _Why his he crying?'_

 _..._

 _'He looks happy.'_

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _It'd be great if I could smile like that one day._

* * *

Kiritsugu's face seemingly disappeared, leaving a nothing but the flames and the darkening night sky. The flames turned red and began to swirl around a visage before turning into long scarlet hair. The sky soon followed in example, changing tones.

He had endured his personal hell once again to catch sight of something so very strange to him.

A bright blue sky remained unappreciated in favor the sight of a beautiful red haired woman staring down at him, her expression laced with genuine concern. She reached out to Shirou's neck, two fingers extended as she placed them on the boy's pulse.

"Are you alright?" She asked once she felt a beat.

Reaching down, he bent his mid-section and pushed himself off the ground. A groan of pain escaped his lips. Instantly, he was reminded of the injuries he sustained against Gilgamesh in the most straight-forward way.

Gashes and cuts across his entire body stung with a burning pain. Fractures received from deflecting hyper-sonic noble phantasms ached within his arms and legs. Each and every muscle in his body was sore. It felt as if he were a person who never worked out in their life and had decided to go on a hundred mile sprint.

His circuits were burning from extended use as well, he had started to use his own reserves when Rin's ran out. Constant moments where quick, reflex based action was required had drained him mentally.

All in all, he wasn't in the best condition and it showed in the woman's expression. In order to alleviate any concern she was feeling, Shirou turned back at her and smiled politely like how he always did to strangers.

"I'm fine, thanks." He said.

The woman shot him a look of disbelief as she watched him slowly stand from the ground. "You're clearly wounded..." She said. "Who did this to you? Was it the bandits?"

' _Bandits?_ ' Shirou thought. What was she talking about? There aren't any... A quick glance at his surroundings spared him the sight of several shady looking men lying on the ground, unconscious. ' _Did she do this?_ '

Shirou didn't know what to say to her, it was obvious that he wasn't at the temple anymore, but he couldn't just tell a random person the truth of his situation. She was clearly a magus judging from the overwhelmingly large amount of mana she emanated, but that would make it more dangerous to tell her about. Still, he couldn't blame some bandits lest they suffer harsher sentences on a false account.

With no other option, Shirou did something that had no right to work. "It wasn't these guys. Don't worry about it." He replied, walking around the place, trying to catch sight of any recognizable landmarks. Finding none, he turned back to the woman. "Where are we?" He asked.

The red haired woman looked as if she wanted to say something, but stopped herself in order to answer his question. "We're in a bandit camp not far off from Clover Town." She replied, now more suspicious than curious.

Shirou quirked a brow at the news. He didn't know any place by the name of 'Clover Town', it didn't exist in Japan as far as he knew. Where did the grail bring him? "What country?" He asked politely.

"Fiore." She replied, narrowing her eyes at him.

This was the first time Shirou got even more lost after receiving directions. "Do you by any chance have a map?" He questioned after taking note of the oddly medieval appearance of everything.

Seeing her reach behind and grab a map, Shirou braced himself for something that he knew was a possibility. He lifted his arm in order to catch the rolled up parchment before unfolding it.

Looking up from the map, he swallowed nervously. "Is this a map of the entire world?" He asked, knowing full well it was when he saw 'Earthland' sprawled in big letters at the top.

The woman nodded.

Rolling the map back up, Shirou tossed it back to her. "Sorry for bothering you." Turning around, he set off to find a way back home, however impossible that it may be.

Hearing shuffling from behind, he turned back to face the woman again.

"Where are you going?" She questioned, her serious tone coming off as rather intimidating. "You've been found in a bandit camp with major injuries, I cannot let you wander off on your own."

Sighing, Shirou pulled the breaks on all of his plans. Raising a hand to his bruised rib cage, he walked back to her. "What about them?" He asked, looking at the unconscious bandits.

"The authorities will arrive soon. They'll handle the situation." She replied. "As for you, a visit to a doctor is in order."

* * *

Rubbing at one of the bandages on his torso, Shirou took note of his appearance. He was once concerned about his lack of modesty, but the bandages underneath had covered just about every opening in his tattered garments. It was a solution, one that made him look like a homeless man, but at least he wouldn't get cold at night.

Hearing the door to the hospital building open behind, he turned around to see a familiar scarlet color making her way over.

"So it was a sword fight then?" She asked, quoting what she found out when the doctor had questioned Shirou.

Shirou nodded, a positive hum escaping his voice.

"Then... How did you end up here, far from your home?"

Shirou took a deep breath, rubbing the back of his head as he glanced at the ground. "I don't know."

Erza nodded, a sympathetic look danced across her features for a split second. "Do you have anywhere you can stay?" She asked.

"I'll be fine." Shirou replied. He had decided not to trust her the moment he figured out that she was a magus of some sort, sleeping in the trees would ultimately be the wiser choice. Granted, he was in another world, but he wouldn't take any chances unless he had more information.

Erza looked like she wanted to protest, to question him some more, but ultimately decided that it was unnecessary when she met his reassuring gaze. "Well then, I suppose this is farewell." She said, stepping past him. "Goodbye, Emiya." She added, remembering his name from when he told it to the doctor.

Shirou waved, watching and waiting as she disappeared from sight before he did anything.

After she had left, he turned and walked an entirely different pathway. The place he was in appeared to be a small village, small and old buildings spread throughout the area, an occasional medium sized one peaking above the heights every so often.

The residents themselves were dressed in old-fashion clothing from the west as they wandered about the dusty streets. Idle chatter filled the air, but paused in moments when Shirou crossed their line of sight. He must have looked pretty weird to the villagers, not only was he dressed weird, but his attire itself was completely ruined and stained with blood.

Ah, right... blood... he probably looked like he had killed a person. Some stared at him with concerned expressions and others stared at him with wary expressions, the latter making up the majority as it always did.

Just as he began to worry about it, the last bit of evening sunlight had completely vanished and crowd had diluted, most leaving the streets in favor of their homes and the comforts of their beds.

The passing of time seemed to be happening faster for Shirou. The sky turned black and yet it shone brightly, an immeasurable amount of stars pouring out their light into the unlimited darkness of the sky, leaving a patches of blue and white hues in the endless sea of black.

And then there was the moon.

Clouds passed through the sky for a moment, luna's calming light breaking through the openings, her moonbeams illuminated a pathway that had been completely unknown to the sword magus. In that one moment, Shirou had followed the brightness of the moon and found himself over a short wooden bridge.

The small river beneath had been running calmly this whole time, yet he had only just begun to hear it now. The cool wind of the night blew gently across his form, as if it were performing with the sight and sound. Even the smell of cherries seemed to be emanating from... somewhere.

The perfect moment of serenity he had found himself in told him that either this 'Earthland' was a beautiful place, or he had been in the right place at the right time.

Looking up at the sky, Shirou admired the moon and stars. They shone brighter in this other world he found himself in, most likely due to less pollution and artificial lighting. Regardless, the sight was breathtaking, which wasn't exactly healthy for a man in his condition.

He silently wondered if he'd be seen as a strange person for ogling this world's version of the moon. Perhaps the residents were so accustomed to such a view that they barely gave it a moment of their time. Immediately after the notion was made, he rejected it. Even back in his world, there were people like Kiritsugu and himself that spent hours staring up at the night sky. Maybe somewhere out there, a family like his own spent time conversing under the moonlight.

Quietly chuckling, Shirou wondered how his adopted father would have reacted if he were in his situation. Maybe he'd find himself in the same spot, staring up at the same sky and reminiscing over the same memories.

This serene moment was when he truly relaxed, his muscles loosening and his senses becoming alert, he was allowed to appreciate his situation for once. It was also at this moment that his serenity was shattered, the sound of a commotion finding its way to his ears.

"Hand it over, lady."

"We know you're loaded."

Turning to his left, Shirou began walking. He began trailing the sound and soon found himself on the streets, wandering further away from the bridge until he found himself at a narrow pathway between two houses.

Any sense of serenity had vanished at that very moment.

His circuits were still hot and numb, using them any time soon would simply cripple them. Looking down, Shirou spotted a wooden plank leaning against the wall to his right. It was most likely left over from the construction of the house itself, which was still fairly new. However, the plank wasn't a means of construction at the moment, to the sword magus, it looked like weapon.

Reaching out, he grabbed the short eighteen inch plank of wood and held it in a simple one-handed sword stance.

"Stop right there." Shirou spoke, his voice held authority, a mimicry of Saber's tone, as he outright commanded the men to stay put.

The tone of his voice coupled with his piercing golden-eyed gaze caused the men to hesitate before answering.

"G- get out of here, kid." One of them spoke.

Shirou stepped closer, his eyes narrowing as if he were daring them to continue their criminal act in front of him.

In a moment of what spontaneous bravery- or more like outright stupidity, the man charged the wounded magus. Drawing a dagger in preparation, he held it up at the Shirou in a basic stance. The stance itself, while not too bad, gave away the man's next attack due to his amateur skill in whatever style he practiced.

Shirou flicked his wrist and batted the blade out of the man's hand. He motioned to analyze the dagger with structural grasp, but he simply couldn't perform any sort of magecraft in his current state. Acting quickly, he angled the thin end of the plank at the thief's neck and deftly swung it down twice in rapid succession before following up with another swing to the head.

As the man fell down, Shirou used his gut as a launch pad to decrease the distance between his remaining enemies and himself. As he ran, he spotted the two thugs charging him as well. Raising the piece of wood behind his head, he torqued his waist and abdomen as he slung the plank at the man in the back.

The make-shift weapon sailed through the air and struck him in the head, snapping in half in the process.

The man in front barely had any time to be surprised as he was struck in the chin. Shirou wasn't used to fighting unarmed, but the skills he gleamed from Archer weren't exclusive to the married swords. In fact, he had learned a lot from his cynical future self.

A swift jab to the gut was followed by another to the inner thigh, the attacks working their purpose to stun and temporarily immobilize the man. Utilizing the opening, Shirou took the few seconds he had to charge a sweeping kick, the strike landing in the man's ribs and causing him to fall over.

The one he had struck in the head had begun to get up, but Shirou barely had any stamina left in his body. Leaning as he walked over to the man, Shirou fell over, using the force of said fall to fuel another punch to his jaw.

They both fell over at the same time, the only difference being that Shirou wasn't unconscious.

Pushing off the ground, he sat upright and caught his breath- only to immediately stop breathing at the sight he saw.

He had no idea how he missed it, another thief was still standing, right next to the middle-aged woman they were robbing. Shirou had no idea how he missed it, he couldn't make out any defining features due to exhaustion and the abnormally long and worn out dark gray-ish brown cloak they were disguised in. They weren't that tall, but he still didn't want to fight them since it wasn't really possible right now.

As he examined the figure, he took a moment to glare at them, warning whoever it was to stay away from the innocent woman.

It was then that he noticed it. The figure tilted their head up, the lower half of a feminine face escaped the shadow that was cast by her own hood. Her lips were quivering in a frustrated frown, as if she were contemplating her next move and didn't like it very much. A bit of her voice became audible in the form of a grunt as she turned on her heel, ran further down the alley and left.

Turning back to the older woman, Shirou reached down and grabbed the small purse off the ground before stumbling to his feet and handing it to her.

"Thank you!" The woman shouted graciously, taking the offered object and pocketing it into her dress.

"Are you alright?" Shirou asked, still panting slightly. Upon seeing the woman nod, he continued. "You should notify the authorities before these guys wake up."

As he turned to walk away, Shirou heard the woman speak up, causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Ah!" She sounded. "What's your name, young man?"

"Emiya Shirou." He replied.

"You're not from around here, are you?" She asked after a moment of pause.

"I'm lost, actually." Shirou said, realizing how much he stuck out being an Japanese man in a western settlement... a Japanese man with red hair... maybe his biological mom was Scottish or something? It's not like he could find out now of all times.

"You look worn out, do you have a place to rest?"

Shirou shook his head.

"Perfect! I mean-... My husband and I own an inn nearby, why don't you come for a stay?" She offered.

Shirou reached up with his least sore arm, scratching behind his head as he smiled nervously. "Thanks, but I can't afford anything like that at the moment."

The woman scoffed lightly. "Nonsense! I can't possibly charge you after what you did!" Stepping closer, she reached out and grabbed Shirou's arm in attempt to support his weight. It was a fruitless effort, but he appreciated it nonetheless. It was the thought that counted after all.

"We can't have our heroes going homeless now, can we?" She added.

Shirou smiled.

' _A hero..._ '


	2. The String Reels In Its Ends

The inn was in rough shape. The rotten wooden floor creaked underneath the worn out sole of Shirou's shoes. The stone walls were not exactly clean and the chairs were relatively old, making Shirou consider whether or not it would be safe to sit on them. The entire room itself was cast in a dim yellow light from the few chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.

All things considered, if a health inspector from the modern world came to visit, the place would be shut down immediately. Not that Shirou would say anything. After all, it was an act of kindness on their part letting him stay here, regardless of the condition the place was in. And this could be the standard for all he knew.

After making it part way into the inn, he was stopped by a man wearing a white apron and a chef hat.

"Ah, I don't believe I've introduced the two of you!" The woman said, running over to the man's side before extending her arms to him in a presentful manner. "This is my husband, Jack."

Shirou shook the man's hand. "Emiya Shirou."

"Ah, I almost forgot!" She exclaimed, her hand making a fan shape as she held it over her chest. "I'm Anna!"

Shirou nodded. He stood in the middle of the room for a while, waiting for the couple to make the next move or start conversation. Then, almost as if sensing the situation, Anna grabbed Shirou's arm and dragged him over to a table near the ordering counter, while Jack had gone back to the kitchen. Not even two minutes later, Jack had returned from the kitchen with a plate of food which he placed on the table in front of Shirou.

"That was fast." Shirou spoke.

Jack and Anna both laughed. "He's a wizard, he uses his magic to speed up his cooking."

Shirou was debating on whether or not he could use his magecraft openly now. Since everyone he met seemed to be some sort of 'wizard', could he not just tell people he was one too? _'_ _Probably not. At least not until I do some more research.'_ He thought as he picked of the fork at his side.

Shirou looked down at his plate. On top of the chipped porcelain plate lie a large turkey leg with mashed potatoes and vegetables on the side.

He truly was in the West now.

Stabbing the fork into some of the vegetables, Shirou moved it over to his mouth. Closing his lips around the end of the fork, he pulled it away and chewed on the food. He then moved on to the next food, repeating the process until he tried every dish on the plate.

Despite being cooked by a wizard, the food was rather bland. Shirou didn't want to be rude, but the turkey wasn't seasoned enough and it was somehow more dry than a normal turkey should be. The mashed potatoes were just mashed potatoes. No salt or anything. And lastly, the broccoli and carrots, the only food on the plate that was actually good. Normally a weird side dish, yet it was perfectly fine. Shirou had no problems with it.

After downing the last of his food, Shirou stood up from his seat. The chair slid and scraped against the wooden floor, causing it to make a screeching noise which catching the attention of Anna who was sweeping.

"How was the food?" She asked.

"It was fine." Shirou replied. It wasn't really a lie, but the food was just that, 'fine'. Maybe he could help them with their cooking some time.

Shirou looked around, he was the only 'customer' in the room. The chairs and tables all around left empty with no sign of anyone having used them in quite a while. "Are all of the other customers upstairs?" He asked with a hopeful tone.

Anna smiled as she looked up from the floor once again. "We don't get much business here." And with that, she looked back down to the rotting floors and began sweeping again.

Something felt off to Shirou. No business? The inn was close enough to the edge of town. Even if their food wasn't the best and the building was in rough shape, he'd expect to see at least one or two people here. Especially if they were going on jobs like Erza where they can't afford to stay in the better inns deeper inside the town. Shirou shook his head. This was a new world. He didn't even know how large the population was or how things worked here.

Shirou pushed his chair back into the table and moved his plate onto the counter for Jack to take into the kitchen. He then took a spare broom from the corner of the room and began sweeping to assist Anna.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that." The middle aged woman pleaded, a hint of guilt in her voice.

Shirou looked up to the woman and smiled. "I insist. After all, you did let me stay here for free."

The woman set her broom aside and rushed over to Shirou. "That's because you saved my life. Now you must be exhausted, you should get some rest." The woman pretty much shoved

Shirou over to the steps.

"Well then... I guess I'll be in my room." Shirou spoke.

The steps of the stairs creaked underneath his feet and one of the boards looked like they would have given away if Shirou weighed more than he did. Upon reaching the top of the steps, he couldn't help but feel strange. He could hear the two whispering to each other from upstairs.

 _'Was I being rude?'_ He thought to himself. This was another world after all, but things couldn't be that different, could they? Social norms seemed to be more or less the same, but he couldn't help but wonder if he had done something that was considered strange.

The door didn't even creak as Shirou pushed it open. The inside of his room was actually quite nice, considering the state of the actual inn itself.

A made bed with a single pillow and blanket off to the left of the room. The closet at the right along with a wardrobe and a shelf which had no books in it. There was a chest at the end of his bed for storage which was a nice feature, but what really caught Shirou's attention was the moonlight falling through the large window that lay on the wall straight ahead.

Shirou walked over to the window. At the side, he noticed a medium sized padded chair. It was the perfect room for him to stay in right now. Leaning against the wall, Shirou gazed at the moon. He soon noticed how beautiful the night sky was in this world. The world here was not as polluted as his own, which caused the sky to retain it's original colors. There were no bright city lights that dimmed the stars. And the moon was full and bright.

 _'Kiritsugu would have loved to see this...'_

Shirou smiled as he remembered the times when he and Kiritsugu would spend their nights watching the night sky. They would drink tea and talk with one another. Sometimes they would even talk for so long that it would be day time before they even knew it. But then, after a while Kiritsugu would fall asleep every now and then during their conversations. One day, the day Shirou swore to uphold his ideals, to become a hero of justice, Kiritsugu had smiled and went to sleep one last time.

Shirou himself was feeling rather sleepy. He got up from his chair and-

* * *

Shirou stirred in his half-awake sleep. Moving around, he felt the padded surface of a mattress beneath him. He couldn't recall last night or how he had gotten into his bed, but he could have sworn that he fell asleep on the floor.

He sat up and attempted to move his arms to the side of the bed. To his surprise, his wrist was chained to the headrest. He was even feeling weak and sluggish. Tugging the chain with his arms, he attempted to gauge how strong they were. Either he was even more weaker than he thought, or the headrest was the only piece of wood in the inn that wasn't rotten. Either way, there would be some explaining.

Almost on cue, muffled footsteps and creaking floorboards could be heard from outside Shirou's room. Once they were close enough, the door slid open. Anna's face peaked in through the room, a crooked smile on her face. "You're awake."

"What's going on?" Shirou asked with a commanding tone. Though he already knew the answer.

"That should be obvious, Emiya." Anna laughed. "Our intentions were obviously not just. After all, there's no way we would be in business with such a run down place. Soon, We're going to sell you. You'll be working as a labor slave from now on."

Shirou's hardened gaze remained unchanged. He had suspected something was off about the two. It should have been obvious when he tasted the food. It wasn't something he noticed earlier, but the food wasn't lacking of a taste, it was one taste overpowering another. They had drugged him and planned to sell him off as some sort of slave. This had angered Shirou. He was glad that it happened to him instead of someone else, but he was mad because they were experienced in this field, which meant they had been selling off others.

Once the woman stopped laughing, her expression turned neutral as she looked Shirou in the eyes. "Though I will admit, I didn't expect you to have such strong resistance to the drug. You were supposed to fall asleep sooner." The woman then looked away as it was rather unnerving for her to stare into such steel piercing eyes.

"You even woke up before the drug could leave your system."

Shirou's circuits were still burning, but they had recovered enough to be used. Right now, he didn't feel comfortable using something as taxing as projection, but he wouldn't need it, not for these two.

Shirou ran Od through two of his circuits, causing them to switch on.

Anna's eyes widened as she saw Shirou break the chain holding his right arm.

Shirou then touched one of the chain links on the chain holding his left wrist. One of the dangers of reinforcing the body was that if you flooded part of your body with too much mana, it would overflow and explode. This was why Magi refrained from bodily reinforcement, instead settling for strengthening runes. Everything had a limit to how much mana it could take. It was almost like filling a cup with far too much water and causing it to spill. Using this rule to his advantage, Shirou forced more mana into the single chain link than it could handle.

Anna began to back up slowly when she saw part of the chain shatter into pieces. Fear flooded through her body, causing her limbs to slow down. She backed up in attempt to get away. Then, her steps were halted when she hit the wall.

Lifting his legs over the edge of the mattress, Shirou sat up. Then, slowly, he tried to stand. The drugs were still in his system, causing his legs to shake under his weight. He reinforced his body slightly, having to activate several of his other circuits to maintain it. He grabbed the blanket from his bed and walked over to Anna.

Reaching out, he grabbed her arm. The woman began shaking violently, attempting to remove his grip, but to no avail. Despite the resistance from her and the weakness in his muscles, Shirou managed to yank her down to the ground. Then, he easily dragged her over to the bedside and tied her to the leg with the blanket.

The woman struggled and almost managed to loosen the knot until Shirou touched the blanket. Flooding mana into the blanket, performing alteration. The blanket hardened and remained unmovable in its position.

The woman then began having second thoughts on her actions. Neither she, nor her partner could have ever guessed that the man they took in was capable of these feats. She was about to shout out to her husband to warn him, but was quickly shut down when Shirou tied a pillowcase was quickly tied around her mouth, effectively gagging her.

"Stay here until the authorities arrive." Shirou's voice was seemingly void of emotion, settling on a more serious and battle-ready tone.

Deciding that the situation here was under control, he walked through the opened door and stepped into the hall. Turning around, he glanced at the door before closing it behind him. With any luck, Jack didn't hear any of what just went down.

Shirou knew the floorboards creaked. It was most likely an intentional part of the inn which they used as a makeshift alarm, as a way to know if their victims were attempting to escape. To avoid the creaking, Shirou stepped on the corners where the nails were in order to minimize creaking and overall noise.

Once he reached the beginning of the stairs, he could hear voices. One was Jack's, but the other was female... It was familiar. He heard the voice recently, but it was too quiet to determine who it belonged to. He descended lower down the steps of the stairs, walking on the edge of the stairs away from the wall as he moved, another technique he used to stay quiet.

Leaning over the rails of the stairs, he saw Jack coming from the kitchen with a plate in hand. Reinforcing his eyes, he could see the plate closer. _' A cheesecake?'_

Shirou traced Jack's path as he walked. The middle aged man stopped at a table which housed a familiar redhead. Once he place the cheesecake onto the table, she immediately stabbed a portion of it with her fork and brought it to her mouth. Seeing this was enough to get Shirou moving.

Increasing the reinforcement in his body to the maximum, he bolted off the side of the stairs, shattering most of it in the process. "Don't eat that!" Closing the gap from the stairs to Erza in a second, Shirou knocked the fork out of her hand as he flew over the table. Falling over the edge, he landed ungracefully on the floor next to the female knight.

Erza looked down at Shirou. "Emiya... What are you doing here?" She recalled meeting him yesterday, the fact that he was in the same city wasn't what surprised her. It was odd seeing him in the condition he was in. He looked even more exhausted than he did yesterday. Shirou stood up from the ground, panting. He looked almost sickly. He was pale, his eyes had dark bags underneath them and he was sweating like a pig. What really caught Erza's attention were the chains on his wrist. The sight of Shirou's condition was enough to put her guard up.

"The owners of this inn are holding people captive!" He shouted, holding a defensive stance as he glared at the chef.

Erza shot up from her seat like a bullet. "Is this true?" She asked, the authority held within her voice reminded Shirou of Saber.

Jack raised him arms in the air. "N-no! He's lying!" For most, his voice would have been a dead give away to his lie, but Erza preferred to act on hard evidence and facts.

Erza's Brown eyes locked onto Shirou. As if she were silently saying ' _Your turn_ '.

Shirou looked down for a moment before looking at the table. "They drug their victim's food..." Shirou spoke, his words causing the man next to him to take up a fidgety stance. "They probably drugged that cake you were about to eat. If you want evidence, just have Jack eat the cake."

"Very well." Erza's gaze shifted back to Jack. "If you will."

"I..." Jack began. "I'm allergic to the ingredients!" He shouted. He wasn't fooling anyone though. Erza's eyes narrowed when she heard his excuse. Jack backed up slowly, maintaining eye contact with the female knight. Slowly, he lowered his hands and reached for something. Quickly, he pulled a magic shotgun out from under the counter.

He did not however, get the chance to point the gun at either Shirou or Erza. In a flash, Erza stepped forward and pushed the barrel of the gun down with her left hand before delivering a powerful blow to his head with the other, knocking him unconscious.

Something told Shirou that pointing a gun at Erza was a huge mistake, one with dire consequences.

Erza looked back at Shirou, her serious expression unchanged. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine." Shirou replied. "His wife was in on this, she's up stairs. I don't know if there are more people being held here, I didn't have time to check." Shirou began walking, aiming for the stairs behind Erza. His weak and exhausted form was apparent as he stumbled.

"Wait. I'll go check..." She spoke, grabbing Shirou's arm before he could pass her. "You should get the authorities. And then get to a doc-"

"Look out!" Shirou interrupted. He embraced Erza and spun her around. He activated the rest of his circuits and reinforced his skin, bones and muscles as far as he could in his current condition. A loud bang could be heard as Shirou let out a brief pained groan through his closed teeth.

Erza saw the source of the loud noise. Up on the steps stood the other owner of the inn, the end of her magic shotgun steaming, she was about to shoot again.

A light appeared in Erza's hand and formed into the shape of a sword in the blink of an eye. She threw it at Anna, but rather than hitting the middle aged woman, it flew by her head and landed in the wall beside her. The momentary shock from having the sword fly so close to her face gave Erza enough time to close the distance between the two. Jumping into the air, Erza delivered a powerful kick to the woman's head. The force of the kick knocked her head into the hard steel handle of the sword that was embedded in the wall, putting the woman into a sleep much like the one that her partner in crime was under.

She then turned around to face Shirou. He was still on the ground due to the fight happening within seconds. "Are you injured?!" She asked as she ran to his side. He was just shot with a magic shotgun from such a close range, so she was shocked to see him push off the ground and stand up.

"I'll be fine." Shirou said before walking over to the stairs. The hole in the back of his shirt showing a bruise left by the shotgun. "Thanks to you." He spoke. His words clearly drawing confusion from Erza.

 _'Wasn't he shot? Why am I to be thanked?'_ She thought silently.

"I don't think I would have been able to take that second shot." He grabbed the Erza's sword by the handle. Carefully, he began pulling, causing the sword to slide out from its burrow in the wall. He almost made the action of pulling out a metal sword that was stuck halfway into a stone wall look easy. Once he took it out, he flipped it over and grabbed onto the blade end before walking back to Erza. "Here." The weight of the sword left his grasp as it was accepted by Erza.

"We should go and check those other rooms now." He said.

"Y-yeah." Moving in front of Shirou, Erza took the lead. He was still injured after all.

* * *

After confirming that there was nobody else in the inn, Erza took Shirou with her to notify the authorities. Apparently, the two were a wanted husband-wife criminal duo who were previously charged with kidnapping crimes.

Shirou had asked Erza what she was doing in the inn once the event was cleared. After finishing her job, she had decided to wait until morning to travel back to a town called Magnolia and booked a stay at the inn Shirou was staying at. But when the couple had offered her food, she denied it and went straight to bed.

Shirou had also told the authorities about the thieves from yesterday and how they could have been in on the operation. They had let Shirou go after questioning him upon which Erza had immediately rushed him to the hospital.

The doctors had given Shirou some sort of potion to clear the drug from his system, though it had apparently been mostly cleared out by the time he got to the hospital. The shotgun wound, the one Erza was worried the most about, somehow became slightly smaller. According to the doctor, a magic shotgun should have done more than just bruise him. Even so, they said that he should be mostly healed in two or more days from how fast it was healing. His already existing wounds were bandaged again, and he was pretty much free to go as long as he promised to rest and drink lots of water.

Still though, the rate at which his wounds were healing and the fact that normal people would be wounded from being shot at aroused suspicion in Erza. She already suspected that he was a wizard, but the kind of magic he used was strange. She was so lost in thought that upon exiting the hospital, she had to retrace her steps in order to remember the act of leaving the building.

The sunset's fire like light shined brightly over the town. A beautiful light that Erza would normally appreciate, but when she had turned to speak to Shirou, she couldn't help but notice the troubled look on his face. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

Shirou stared at the setting sun for a few moments. "Those people were selling their victims." He began. "They'll be punished for sure... But... What about the people they were selling to? Or the people that were previously sold?"

Erza's eyes widened for a split second before falling back down just as fast. "The authorities are on that. They will interrogate those two and find out all of the information they need." She was taken aback by Shirou's caring attitude.

"I guess so." Shirou muttered.

Erza began walking forward, further away from the hospital building. "Have some faith in the police, Emiya."

"Although..." Shirou spoke, his voice almost too quiet for Erza to hear. "I hope the victims are alright. They were selling them as labor slaves."

Erza instantly stopped moving. Despite the rest of her being as still as a statue, her head fell down. Her eyes seemed to be looking through the ground at something that Shirou couldn't see. When Shirou placed a hand on her shoulder, he could feel her jumping. The action itself was so slight that he would have missed it if not for inheriting Archer's experienced focus.

"Are you alright, Erza?"

Erza nodded her head. "Mm." Shirou's hand fell off her shoulder as she began moving forward again. "Let's go, Emiya."

Shirou almost nodded and went along with Erza without question. She reminded him of Saber so much that he unconsciously began following her when she told him to. "Wait... what do you mean?" Shirou asked as he stopped.

Erza looked back, the hint of a smile could be found on her lips. "I didn't realize it before. When you came to me, you had told me that you were lost. I had assumed that you were from the East and had merely lost your way, but... now, it would appear that your situation is more complicated." Erza turned around completely, her hair flew momentarily at a breeze passed by, it appeared to be on fire as the setting sun dyed the edges of her hair a golden color. "When I saw you at the inn, I realized that you had nowhere to go. You probably still don't have anywhere to go. So, come with me. I'll help you out. At least until you find a way back to your home."

Shirou had to make a conscious effort not to drop his jaw. Erza was not only intelligent, but kind. She was willing to help someone who had done absolutely nothing to gain her kindness. "But... I wouldn't want to bother yo-"

Erza cut him off, closing her eyes and shaking her head in disagreement. "You're no bother, Emiya. I'm in your debt after all." Erza was about to leave the conversation alone, but when she noticed the auburn-haired boy open his mouth to speak again, she interrupted him once more. "You saved my life twice in that inn, at least let me repay that debt."

Shirou felt guilty. He wasn't used to such hospitality from people other than Saber or Sakura. Deep down, he felt as if he would definitely be a burden at some point. He wanted to say, 'no' in order to spare Erza, but the hopeful look in her eye reminded him of something, something that he couldn't turn down. "Alright." Shirou spoke before walking beside Erza. "Thank you, Erza." He smiled.

Erza looked to Shirou and smiled back. She would be making her way deeper into the town. To the good inn. One that wasn't run by criminals. Perhaps then Shirou's bad experience with inns would be forgotten.

And with that, two Redheads walked off into the sunset.

* * *

 **Yeah, I know. My writing didn't improve. There are a lot of paragraphing mistakes, but you can thank Fanfiction's extremely confusing Doc editor for that.**

 **Firstly, I want to apologize for using OCs. Though they weren't really OCs, they were more like lame NPC bad guys that show up and then disappear later on. I will be getting into the cannon story later, but I'll be doing it differently, Shirou will have a different reason for being there and his perspective of the few cannon events will be different so that I'm not just rewriting Fairy Tail's story and turning it into Fairy Tail, but with an extra character.**

 **On another note: I received some amazing advice from InfamouslyHandsome in the reviews, who literally showed me up by rewriting one of my scenes and showing me how it's done like a boss. Though I wrote this chapter in a tired rush, so I wasn't able to follow his advice. (Next chapter... I hope).**

 **I also received some kind words of encouragement from Zombie Overlord. Thank you both for helping me.**

 **I know this chapter is short, but it really seemed kind of long when writing it, so the pacing might also be really bad. So, I'll have to ask some of you how long my chapters should be from now on. If I get a solid response, most of my chapters will be near that word count if I can pull it off. Maybe I'll come back and rewrite these chapters to make them longer.  
**

 **And lastly, I thank you all for reading my nonsense. Have a wonderful day.**

 **-Dal**


	3. A Stroll Through Town

**Hey, the doc editor was nice to me! I hope.**

* * *

Erza looked at Shirou from across her seat. His clothes were all ruined. It was like this when they first met, but the recent events ruined them further. A white shirt with long blue sleeves was now a torn up dirty gray and dark blue shirt. Signs of a jacket could be found when she looked at his left wrist and saw a single cuff with hints of a torn sleeve. His dark blue pants weren't as bad, but they still had a few cuts as well as dirt and some blood. His shoes were not in optimal condition with the soles completely worn out. They were strange clothes to begin with. If they weren't damaged, she could imagine Gray or Loke wearing something similar.

His smell was bad too. It was a combination of sweat and dirt with a hint of blood. She was almost mad that the doctors didn't offer him a shower like a normal medical practitioner should have. From appearances to smells, Erza had enough. "Emiya." She spoke. Her commanding voice drawing his attention from the window. "Once we get off the train, we'll get you some new clothes... And a shower."

Shirou immediately raised his hands. "You don't have to do that, Erza."

Erza sighed. She had a feeling that Shirou would be a difficult person. And not in the same way that her guild-mates were. "Yes I do. We can't exactly have you walking about in that condition." She held back another sigh as she saw Shirou looking away. "Don't worry. Clothes aren't even that expensive where we're going to. And there's a bath house in Magnolia where you can get cleaned up." Erza flashed back to the times when she would go to the bath house with her guild-mates. Magnolia really was a great place.

Shirou turned back to the window at the passing trees and animals. "You're a kind person, Erza." He sighed before the female knight, his attention shifted to focused on her left eye. "Alright. I'll have to rely on you, Erza. But if there's anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."

Erza smiled. Despite the difficulties she would have with him, she could tell that Shirou too was also kind. "I suppose there's one thing I would like to ask you." She said, gaining Shirou's full attention. "Are you a wizard?" She noticed redhead pause momentarily. A sign that he was contemplating his next words. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me."

"No, that's not it." Shirou began. "I wouldn't go calling myself a wizard, but I do practice mage-... magic."

"What do you mean?" Erza raised an eyebrow. She knew that he wasn't from here, but was he really this sheltered? "I know you use some strange magic, but anyone who uses magic is technically a wizard."

Shirou raised his hand before he stared into the open palm. "Even so, I don't feel right calling myself a wizard." He looked like he was reminiscing. Like he was thinking hard about something that happened some time ago.

"Why would you say that?"

Shirou lowered his hand. Looking straight into the brown eye of the female knight. "I'm not exactly strong enough."

Erza sighed yet again. There's another one of those difficulties. "Even so, you're still a wizard, Emiya."

"I guess you're right." Shirou looked down to the floor, almost as if he were gazing through it. The action itself didn't suit a person his age. It was like he were an old man in a seventeen year old body. "Hey, Erza. Back at the inn you used some strange type of magic, what was it?"

"Requip." The fact that he had never heard of requip magic despite being a wizard was surprising to Erza. "It allows me to store weapons and armor in a pocket dimension and if I choose, I can quickly change out my equipment and weapons during combat."

Shirou paused for a moment. As if something clicked within him. "Gate of..." His whispers almost unnoticed by Erza. He snapped out of his trance and apologized. "That sounds very useful."

Erza nodded in agreement. "It is quite useful." Shirou had said that he was weak, but could he have been unhappy with his magic? "Your strengthening magic is impressive too. Not many can walk off unharmed after being shot with a magic shotgun at such a close range. You even healed fast too. How is that?" She asked.

"It's always been that way. I would always heal faster than a normal person ever since I was young." Shirou replied.

 _So it wasn't magic?_ Erza's focus changed as she stared out the window. She saw the train station slowly sliding into view. "We're here." She spoke.

* * *

"Isn't that heavy?" Shirou asked.

"No." Erza replied.

Shirou had to do a double take when he saw Erza getting her luggage off of the train. So many crates and bags as well as some rather questionable items were packed into a wooden wagon. The rope struggled to contain the contents of the wagon, it looked as if it could burst any moment now. The fact that he never saw her carrying it back at the other city is what surprised him the most. It kind of reminded him of Rin. He was certain that if Rin ever had to go on the run, she wouldn't survive because she'd take too much stuff with her.

Rin... Shirou hoped that she was doing alright. He literally just disappeared right in the middle of chaos, leaving her and Saber to deal with the grail by coming here. Even if it were and accident, it pained Shirou to leave his friends like that. It would be bad if he had left and they couldn't destroy the grail. Who am I kidding? She's a hot blooded Tohsaka, she'll be fine. She has Saber after all.

Shirou looked to the sky. It was blue, like the dress Saber always wore into her battles. He was reminded of her disappointment when she found out that the grail was corrupted and could not grant her wish. For someone like her who had fought so hard for a single wish, only to have it torn away... She deserved a better fate. Shirou hoped deep down that Saber could one day find exactly what it is that she was looking for.

"Is something bothering you?"

Shirou was broken away from his thoughts. Looking to the left, he saw his new companion, Erza Scarlet who was standing still and staring at him with visible concern. Shirou had to stop walking too so that he didn't pass her. "It's nothing." He spoke. Erza clearly knew he was lying. Her eyes showed it. "Where are we going again?" Shirou asked. It was a sad attempt to change the subject. One that Erza had saw through.

"To a clothing store..." Erza said before focusing her attention back onto the street ahead. "And then a bath house."

Shirou followed Erza down several blocks until they made it to a building on a street corner. It was mostly made of wood and stone, but the windows facing the street were large enough to qualify as walls. Shirou could see inside the building. It looked like a first rate business inside from what he could see. Despite the glare from the sun, he could see clothing racks professionally lined up inside the building deep inside. Even further were shoe racks and other necessities.

"Here." Shirou turned to his side and saw Erza holding a small red pouch. "It should be enough to cover three or so pairs of necessary clothing. I'll stay out here to guard my luggage."

Shirou reluctantly took the rather large pouch from Erza's steel clad hand. "I can't thank you enough, Erza." he gave her a smile before disappearing into the store.

Left alone on the streets with her luggage, Erza looked down to the ground. She appeared to be troubled by something. She noticed something wrong. Something off from the moment Shirou had thanked her. "Emiya..." She whispered with a sad tone. "Your smile..."

* * *

Upon exiting the store, Shirou was met with a weird stare from Erza. She was staring at the brown paper bag he was holding as if she were telling him that she wanted to know what he bought. He took out one of the shirts to show Erza. She looked at the shirt and back at Shirou, then back to the shirt.

"Emiya..." She began. "Do you have a preference for that shirt?"

Shirou lowered the shirt into the bag. It was very similar to the one he usually wears. To the one he was wearing right now, only it wasn't torn up and blood stained. The pigmentation was also slightly different, the blue sleeves being a little darker than his old one. The collar was even slightly bigger. "I suppose so. I feel comfortable in it." He had bought pants and a pair of shoes as close to his usual preferrence as possible, but the shirt was what he liked the most. It took him a while to find clothes like this.

Erza nodded and beckoned Shirou to come along with her further down the street. During their stroll, Erza had voiced her surprise at the fact that Shirou could walk this much without rest.

"I would exercise a bit back home."

Erza raised an eyebrow. "You did? May I ask what exactly were you training for?"

Shirou let the silence drag on for a little while. It wasn't a weird thing to ask, but he had to be careful who he gave information too. "I have a dream." He began. His words drawing more attention from Erza for unknown reasons. "I can't fulfill that dream if I'm not in shape." Erza's only visible eye turned from Shirou to the street. She remained silent as she respected his wish for secrecy.

Shirou himself was more impressed with how Erza was the one who didn't require rest since she had been dragging a two ton wagon throughout the entire town.

"It's Titania!" Shouted a child's voice.

Shirou had looked to the left and right before noticing a small group of children. He wasn't necessarily looking for them, but more for the Titania character they were talking about. Shirou had heard of that name before. Titania was the name of the queen of fairies from a Shakespearean play if he remembered right.

The group of children began running up to Erza with paper in their hands. But why were these kids surrounding Erza and asking for Titania's autograph? Perhaps it could be a title of some sort. Never mind that, why were they just standing in the middle of the street with paper? They were probably drawing on the streets.

Erza took the papers and was handed a crayon of all things by one of the other kids. They each jumped cheerfully in excitement as they waited for Erza to finish signing the papers. It was now that Shirou saw Erza's hand writing that he realized he could read this world's language despite it not being written in any of the three different Japanese alphabets.

Sadly, Erza's hand writing was not the best and Shirou had to use Structural Grasp just to partially understand it despite the fact that he already knew it was her name. But it was still kind of Erza hand out autographs to children. Maybe she only ever autographed to children because if they showed people the autograph, they would think the children had forged it. Since it was not the best handwriting and was also written in crayon, it made for the perfect cover.

Shirou shook his head. He was having some mean thoughts for a moment there. "You're famous." Shirou spoke as he watched the group of children run off cheerfully.

Erza looked at Shirou. Her face slowly rose to a red color as she came to some sort of realization. "Y-yeah, I suppose so."

Maybe she was embarrassed by her hand writing?

"W-we're here now." Erza cleared her throat, the red in her face disappearing. "You can take your clothes with you in there. Just keep them away from the water."

Shirou nodded before walking through the doors of the bath house.

* * *

After washing up in one of the shower stalls in the surprisingly modern bath house, Shirou met up with Erza who suggested that they both go eat at a nearby restaurant.

The place was seemingly more ahead of its time than anything else Shirou had seen in this world. It was as if development was faster in the food industry. Though, Shirou didn't mind it that way.

Erza guided him to a table near the window. After waiting in the red padded seat, a waiter came up to give them menus.

Shirou ordered a rather basic meal that contained a balance of various meats and vegetables. He was content with most food as long as it wasn't bad for the body. He picked up the fork at his side and tore off a piece of meat before raising it to his mouth. It was definitely better than the turkey he had at the slavery inn, but it was still lacking in many aspects.

He was about to take another bite, but he noticed the unusual silence at his table. He raised his head and took notice of the female knight seated across from him. The oddity here was not that Shirou Emiya was having a meal with a female knight at some restaurant in another world, no, the weird part for Shirou was that she was not eating anything. "Did you not order anything, Erza?"

Erza shook her head. "I did order something." Her eyes closed and arms crossed, a smile formed on her face as the waiter appeared with Erza's order. "I ordered the single greatest food in all of existence."

"A strawberry cake?" Shirou asked with a confused tone. He knew that girls apparently loved sweets, but this might be more of an obsession.

"Mm." Erza grasped her fork before eagerly devouring the cake.

Shirou chuckled. He was reminded of the lack of grace that most of his friends ate with when he made dinner. "You really love cakes, don't you?"

Erza looked up from the cake, her hand wrapped around the handle of the fork that was in her mouth. "Hm?" She removed the fork and stabbed it into the cake again. "Yeah."

A single circuit thrummed to life. Od pumped through to his index finger. "Sadly, it's not very good for you."

Like a tiger protecting its catch, Erza pulled her plate back as soon as she heard those words. "Emiya, what are you doing?"

"This might be a little weird, but may I?" He asked, his arm extended, reaching across the table and into the lion's den. Truth be told, Shirou actually felt like he would be bitten if he went too far. "I'll just use reinforcement on your cake if you want."

Erza's defensive stance lowered as she fell into confusion. "Reinforcement? As in strengthen? Why would you perform strengthening magic on food?"

Shirou resisted the urge to face palm. He assumed that magic here was the same as it was back in his old world and forgot to explain himself. "My reinforcement works differently than normal strengthening magic." He began the usual explanation. "For example: if I reinforce a sword, it not only becomes more durable, but sharper too. It not only makes things more durable, but effective in their respective fields. Except for food. It doesn't make food harder, it increases its nourishment as well as improving its taste."

Erza's eyes widened. The fork clanged as it fell out of her hand and mouth and on to the table. "Emiya... are you implying that you can make cake taste better?!" She pushed her plate over to Shirou before he could even answer.

"Well..." Shirou reached out to touch the cake. "Sure, but if you get full from this cake sooner, you'll eat less of it. That is if you don't mind me touching it." He looked up at Erza, silently asking permission. Upon seeing her nod, Shirou placed his fingertip on a part of the cake further away from the main slice. He pumped prana into the cake, reinforcing it. Shirou dreaded the day Rin found out that he reinforced a half eaten strawberry cake.

"Here you go." Shirou slid the plate back to Erza's side of the table.

Erza narrowed her eyes. She was suspicious of Shirou's magic, but she also seemed determined to eat tastier cake. She shook her head, removing her suspicions as she picked up the fork with her armored hand. As soon as the cake entered her mouth, her eyes widened. She went back for more and more until the cake was all gone.

"Emiya!" Erza stood up from her seat, placing her hands onto the table as she leaned forward. "Your magic is amazing!"

* * *

Shirou shivered as he remembered his time in the restaurant just moments ago. Erza had ordered so many different cakes and had asked him to reinforce all of them. She had him reinforce so many cakes that two of his circuits began to burn up. Those two circuits burned more than they did after his fight with Gilgamesh. Though now he realized that it might have been foolish to dedicate only two magic circuits to Erza's appetite.

Perhaps this was a tactic to wear out his circuits and leave him vulnerable? In that case, he was glad that he only used two. However suspicious he was of Erza, as it stood, she didn't technically do anything wrong. Because of that, Shirou would treat her as a friend, however, he refused to allocate all of his trust in her.

Removing himself from his thoughts, Shirou looked to his left. Erza was dragging her two ton wagon through the sunset dyed streets with a pleasant smile on her face. It seems Shirou now knew how to cheer Erza up if she ever needed to be. "Hey, Erza. Where are we headed to now?" Shirou asked.

Erza remained focused on the road ahead as she answered his question. "To the guild house."

"Guild house?" Shirou thought back to the time he had spent traveling with Erza. She mentioned something about a guild during their ride on the train, but he didn't think anything of it. Though it did make sense for her to be in some sort of guild since she went on a job.

"Yes." She spoke. "I belong to a guild called 'Fairy Tail'. You may have heard of it before."

Shirou had clearly never heard of Fairy Tail for obvious reasons. He had almost felt guilty. But then again, Erza would never believe his story.

The two had been walking straight down the street for quite some time. Shirou almost wondered how far the guild house was until what looked to be a giant eastern styled building had appeared in view. The entire city had been dyed a bright orange along with the sky. The sun was setting, but the day was still long.

In no less than fifteen more minutes, they had closed in on the guild building and were almost at the entrance.

"Emiya." A stern voice spoke up from Shirou's side, demanding his attention. "My guild-mates can be a little out of hand at times, but they're good people." She let go the the rope attached to her wagon, leaving it near the wall of the building. "With that in mind, don't be surprised at what you will see when I open these doors." Erza pushed against the metallic red leaf shaped doors with both hands. Despite the size, they slid open quite easily.

Once the doors swung open, Shirou saw chaos. Smoke and dust flew about as person after person were tossed about the room. Many landed on tables and chairs, breaking them. Others had landed on more people, provoking them and recruiting them to the giant brawl. As soon as Erza had walked into the room, everyone froze in their positions.

Erza merely walked through the large crowd of people. Each of them had cleared the way and began cleaning up the hall as she passed through. She made her way to the bar in the far back where a small old man sat, drinking alcohol on top of the counter. "Master, we have a guest."

He was an extremely short, elderly man. He had... black irises? He was also going bald with only the outer rims of his head containing white hair. He also had a thick white mustache. His attire consisting of a white shirt with a black Fairy Tail stamp in the center. He wore an orange hoodie over his white shirt. The outfit was completed with matching orange shorts and an orange and blue striped jester hat.

The old man seemed to ignore Erza until a white haired woman took his mug away. "Oh? Erza, you're back!" He leaned to the side, staring at the red haired boy standing behind Erza. "And who might this be?"

Shirou stepped to the side, allowing the old man to see him face to face. "Emiya Shirou."

The old man extended his hand. "Makarov Dreyar." He shook the hand that took his own. "Master of Fairy Tail."

* * *

 **Okay, this chapter is way too short and my writing still sucks. But don't worry, Google has a solution for me.**

 ** **(lol. I more or less copied the wiki description of Makarov).****

 **Then there's also the fact that this is for Mr. Kellar's contest and he had two themes to choose from. I chose one of them, it comes into play pretty soon, I just have to set it up.**

 **mx2423 asked what point in time in the Fairy Tail universe this is.**

 **As for anyone with that question, my answer is: It's a surprise.  
**

 **I also want to thank everyone for the positive reviews so far as well as the advice I've been receiving. It's all helpful. I'm not afraid to be corrected, I need honest feedback to improve. Thank you for reading this garbage.**

 **-Dal**


	4. Pleasant Interaction

**Hey everyone. You may notice that this chapter is longer and better than my previous ones, and that is because I have a beta reader now. Sorry it took so long to post a new chapter, I was busy for the past few days and beta reading takes a few days too. So from now on it will be more quality over quantity.**

* * *

Shirou bent slightly forward as he reached behind him, tying together the two ribbons of his apron. It was protocol for all chefs to wear the plain white apron, but the hat was a bit too much. Though, Shirou was just glad that the apron wasn't girly like Sakura's. No frills, no lace, no pink, just a plain white apron.

Walking up to the window, he placed his palms on the counter and slid his feet back, leaning most of his weight on the cool stone-top. He waited... and waited... and waited... no one came. His eyes drifted around the room. Multiple people were sitting down in idle chatter with one another, ever so often casting him a sneaky glance when they thought he wouldn't notice; he noticed. It's not like it wasn't expected, he was a new person, someone they've never met. He'd only been working for ten minutes, not enough time for them to gather any information on him.

He stood up straight, removed his chef hat, and ran a hand through his auburn hair with a quiet sigh. His hand still in his hair, his eyes fell on Mirajane. She was stationed at the bar, just in front and slightly to the left of him. Her back slightly arched from standing up straight, her hands clasped in front of her, she was showing a bright smile to the entire room. Shirou could tell she was a professional, he could really learn a lot from her. But even with someone like her, no one came to her with an order... maybe they weren't hungry yet?

Letting his hand fall back to his side and releasing one more quiet sigh, Shirou did his best to look as friendly as he could.

It had been a while since Shirou was introduced to the guild master. Erza had told the small old man about Shirou's predicament, and the two began discussing options for him. After a few minutes, Makarov had paused the conversation to ask Shirou if he had any skills he could use. Once Shirou told him that he was good at household chores and cooking, Makarov pondered for a while. That was when Erza had stepped up and recommended that Shirou be given a test run as a chef. She herself had never said why she suggested the occupation of 'chef', but Shirou knew that it was his reinforcement.

And now here he was, waiting at a counter for Mirajane to appear with someone's order. Though, not once had someone come. Even after an hour had passed. An hour wasn't very long, but Shirou needed something to do. Since nobody had been hungry thus far, he was presented with the opportunity he had been waiting for. There was something he felt he needed to do since he got here.

He didn't have the cash to repay Erza, but now that he was in the kitchen, there was another way to pay off even a little bit of the debt he owed. After finding out that she loved cake, he had a new objective in mind. He recalled a time back when Taiga had guilt tripped him into making a cake for her birthday, even though her birthday was celebrated the day before and she already had a cake then. It was a strawberry cake, much like the one Erza liked to eat. Surely another cake wouldn't hurt her. The girl's appetite was comparable to Saber's, so Shirou had no doubt that she could actually eat more cake. Even if she couldn't eat more, she could just save the leftovers.

With a plan in mind, Shirou got to working. He turned around and walked up to the island in the middle of the kitchen. Dropping down to one knee, he wrapped his hand around the small knob and gave a gentle tug. The cabinet was opened, revealing multiple metal bowls of varying sizes. He reached in and pulled out the stack of bowls. After taking the large one at the bottom of the stack, he returned the rest of them to their proper place. Having retrieved the object, he stood back up, placing the bowl on the island and closing the cabinet with a soft kick to the door. Mirajane showed him where the supplies and utensils were earlier, allowing him to quickly find what he needed.

Desserts were not necessarily something he made all the time, since it wasn't healthy, so while he may be lacking experience in that area, he was able to make up for it with his above average knowledge and skills in the culinary arts. With a clear goal and determination, Shirou set out to make the best strawberry cake he could.

* * *

Mirajane's head bobbed up when some noise reached her ears. From the kitchen behind her, she heard the unmistakable sound of a whisk beating against a steel bowl. She stepped one of her feet back, turning slightly so she could see into the kitchen. Shirou, the new chef, was whisking something in a bowl. She tilted her head to the side, she was certain no one ordered anything, so she was curious as to what exactly he was doing. She didn't want to disturb him though, so with a shrug, she turned back to the crowd in front, waiting for someone to order.

A few minutes past; a sweet aroma filled the air around the kitchen, making its way over to the bar and catching the attention of Makarov and Mira, who had turned back to the kitchen.

The guild master looked back with wide and confused eyes. He then looked up at Mira, who stood completely still, enticed by something she saw in the kitchen. "Did someone order a cake?" He asked.

Eyes still locked on the kitchen, Mira shook her head. "No. I've been here all day and no one placed an order for anything."

Soon, the sweet smell of a strawberry cake hit the entire guild hall like a wave. People previously in idle chatter had now stopped speaking, some fearing that drool would fall out if they opened their mouths, others remained silent more out of curiosity. The smell was definitely a strawberry cake, but it was different than normal cakes.

Few of the guild members were even more interested in this scent, even fewer of them could recognize it. One of those people was Erza Scarlet. Her eyes were glued to that window behind the bar, the one that peered into the kitchen where the scent originated. Those stationed at the same table as her knew very well of Erza's eating habits and pitied the one for whom the cake was being made.

If Shirou had been nearby to hear her stomach growling, he would have shook his head as he recalled the time at the restaurant when she ordered cake after cake, each different from the other. She had ordered every cake on the menu to see how they would taste if Shirou reinforced them, though strawberry remained as one of her favorites. And yet here she was, appearing to have digested all of that cake in no more than two hours. It was as if her stomach were an incinerator, burning anything that she devoured.

With nearly half an hour passing since the scent of a heavenly strawberry cake invaded everyone's nostrils, the door to the kitchen opened, allowing everyone to see a metal cart rolling through. Though it was not the cart itself that had caught the attention of everybody, it was the three tier strawberry cake that rested atop the smooth surface.

Shirou, who was in charge of the cart, stopped and looked through the crowd of people for a specific person. He didn't seem to notice all the eyes on him as he pushed through the hall between tables. The gazing people would trace the path the cake took, following it through every twist and turn on its way to a certain table.

Erza's mouth wide open, drool trailing down her chin. There was a twinkle in her eyes as she saw the cart stop at her table. The creator of this masterpiece gently lifted the cake and placed it in front of the Scarlet haired knight.

"Emiya... Is this for me?" She asked, not taking her eyes off of the cake.

"Yes." He replied. Erza had barely managed to remove her eyes from the cake to send Shirou a questioning glance. "It's fine, just try it." He sighed. He may have spoiled her with reinforcement.

Shirou's fingers briefly brushed along the cool metal as he grabbed a white porcelain plate off the cart. Placing the proper silverware on the plate, he set them on the wooden table in front of Erza.

He had expected her to share the cake with her friends, all of whom sat at the same table as her, so he brought extra plates, which lay on the lower platform of the cart. What he didn't expect when he reached for the plates, was Erza discarding hers and eating the cake straight from where it stood.

"No way." Said a black haired man sitting at the same table as Erza. "I didn't think anyone could eat faster than Natsu!"

Shirou smiled at the sight of Erza enjoying the dessert he had made. He always liked seeing people who were happy with the food he prepared.

With his objective complete, it was time for him to return to the kitchen. He turned around, about to grab the handle of his metal cart. Before he could even reach the handle, as his head fully turned, his view was obstructed by a small group of guild members- who stood a little closer than he was comfortable with. "Um..."

His eyes passed over the crowd, eventually settling on the girl standing in the center of the small group. She had straight, bright lavender hair, with a large red bow atop her head. Large oval shaped glasses complimented her brown eyes. She wore a long white coat with blue accents and a dark red ribbon at the collar. She wore matching knee high boots above black leggings.

"You're the new chef, right?" She asked. The moment Shirou began nodding, she stopped him before he could speak. "Then I'd like to place an order!"

Shirou smiled nervously as he side stepped the group and went straight for his chef hat. "You're gonna have to speak to Mirajane, then." He placed the chef hat on his head before grasping the handle of his cart and leaving into the kitchen.

As soon as the door slid shut, nearly everybody stood from their seats. The lavender haired girl knew that she would have to fight her way through the rest of her guild-mates to make it to Mira first.

Though it was Mira who was going to have the real fight that evening.

* * *

Erza sat in the wooden chair with a cheerful demeanor. It wasn't any different than her normal demeanor in terms of appearance, but her aura wasn't as scary. She ate away at the strawberry cake, with hints of an almost-smile appearing on her face. Which was rare, because Erza usually maintained a serious composure when it came to cake.

Gray was staring at Erza as she ate, his mouth agape as his face held a confused look, or a disturbed one depending on how one looked at it. Once Erza had felt his stare, she ripped her eyes from the cake to look at him.

"What is it, Gray?" She asked.

"N-nothing. I know that cake is good, but you kind of seem a little too happy about it."

Erza crossed her arms. She closed her eyes and nodded her head with a smile. "That's because my cake is specially made."

"What does that mean?" asked Gray.

This time, it was a flying blue cat who spoke up. "It means that Erza and the new chef are-!" Before the cat could continue its sentence, a steel clad fist impacted its face.

Erza, not showing any reaction to Happy's teasing replied to Gray's question. "Emiya reinforced my cake."

The shirtless man raised an eyebrow. "He made it harder?"

Erza shook her head. "No, Emiya's strengthening magic works differently than normal types. He can use his magic on food to make it taste better, without making it tougher to eat." Erza quoted what she remembered from Shirou's explanation. Though it seems as if she had forgotten an important part of it.

"Whoa!" The pink haired wizard, Natsu, stood up from his seat. "Do you think he can use cake magic on fire?!" He asked, almost forgetting about the slice of cake that he barely touched.

Lucy, the blonde seated next to Natsu, face palmed. "Natsu... Fire isn't food. I don't think it would work that way."

"How about you ask him yourself." Gray spoke, using his thumb to point over to the side. "It looks like he's coming our way."

Without his hat, the new chef emerged from the kitchen. Linking together his fingers and raising his arms high above his head, he began to stretch out the muscles in his arms and back. Though he started stretching, his face showed no sign of exhaustion, even after having to bake cake for almost everyone in the guild. His golden steel-like eyes locking on to a specific table as he lowered his limbs, he began walking towards his destination.

Once he made it to the table, the fire mage jumped from his seat. "Hey, chef guy!" He shouted despite the fact that Shirou was close by. "I heard that your magic can make cake taste better!"

Shirou closed his eyes and sighed. Running a hand through his auburn red hair, he opened his eyes and cast a quick glance at Erza, wondering if she was responsible. He met Natsu's gaze once more and replied, "Yeah, it can make cake taste better."

Natsu wasted no time shoving the cake in his face. "Then can you reinforce mine?!" His smile was wide, showing his fangs. He was probably planning to get the chef to try it on fire later.

"Natsu!" Lucy scolded. "You're being rude!"

"Lucy's right." Gray stood up from his seat. "If you're going to reinforce Natsu's cake, then reinforce mine too!" He grabbed his plate and passed it to Shirou.

"That's not what I meant!" Lucy shouted.

Shirou pinched the edges of Natsu and Gray's plates between his thumb and index fingers. Lowering the plates, he gently placed them on the table. He lifted his arm and extended a finger toward Natsu's cake, just barely touching it. Starting at his fingertip, strange glowing lines appeared, tracing a path along the cake's surface. After a few seconds, the lines retreated back to Shirou's fingertip, leaving the cake completely. Shirou poked Gray's cake, repeating the visual performance.

"There." He slid the plates back to the two fairy tail mages.

"Huh?" Natsu poked the cake with his fork. "It doesn't seem to be any different."

Natsu flipped his hand over, stabbing the cake with his fork. Flipping his hand over again, Natsu brought the cake closer to his eyes, studying it closely. It definitely looked like a normal cake; nothing different about it at all. Even with his heightened, animalistic five senses, he couldn't spot any difference in the cake from before. Same smell, same feel, and same sight. With a shrug, he brought it closer to his mouth. Opening wide, and at the same time as Gray, he lowered the entire cake into his mouth, chewing it in its entirety.

Gray's and Natsu's eyes immediately widened after the first bite; they both started chewing at a much faster rate. Gray, still having cake left since he didn't swallow his whole, began scarfing down what was left. Meanwhile, Natsu was pulling the hair at the sides of his head, tears flowing down his face by the bucket load.

Lucy's curious eyes were locked on Gray and Natsu. Was the cake really so good as to warrant that kind of reaction? She lowered her eyes, staring at her own cake in contemplation. Could it really that good?

"Do you want me to reinforce your cake too?" Shirou asked.

The blonde looked at Shirou for a moment before turning back to the cake. ' _Oh well, he's the chef, he touched the cake when he made it._ ' Lucy thought to herself. "Sure!" She lifted her plate and extended her arm toward Shirou, allowing him to touch the cake and reinforce it.

Lucy set the plate back down in front of her. She cut off a small piece with her fork, scooping it up and bringing it close to her mouth. She let out a soft breath and tapped her chest with her fingers a few times, as if to prepare herself for what she would soon experience. Her three guild-mates watched as she slowly guided the fork into her mouth. She removed the fork from her lips embrace, slipping the cake off the piece of silver. As soon as the cake landed on her tongue, she completely froze with wide eyes.

Fifteen seconds went by, Lucy was still frozen. The four shared a look of confusion and concern. Natsu brought his face closer to hers, looking into her eyes... they looked like they were glowing. It was like she was on some magic ride somewhere.

"Hey... Lucy, you okay?" Natsu asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

"This is amazing!" Lucy threw an arm up, almost causing Natsu to fall over from her sudden outburst.

She began scooping up the rest of the cake, stopping every so often to express joy and gratitude toward the new guild chef. After she finished eating what remained of her cake, she leaned back in her seat, patting her belly with a dreamy look. But then, she came to a sudden realization.

"Wait, Emiya," A look of guilt and worry plagued her face. "This consumes magic power, right? Are you okay reinforcing our food like that?"

"It's fine." Shirou replied. "It was only those three cakes anyway."

Head shooting up, Erza shot Shirou a glance with an entire slice of cake hanging from her mouth. "Emiya..." She spoke quietly, swallowing the cake whole before speaking again. "Are you saying that I've been eating a normal cake this entire time?"

Raising a hand to his head, he ran it through his hair. "Things don't have to be reinforced to taste good." He said, almost as if he was stating the obvious. When Erza glanced at everyone else's cakes and then back to him, he couldn't hold back a sigh. The expectant look she had made him feel a little sorry. "Alright, alright." He added, moving quickly to provide the same treatment to Erza's entire cake. "Just this last time, though. We can't have you becoming addicted to reinforced cake."

Erza seemed saddened at the sudden revelation, but didn't try to change his mind.

"Still..." Lucy muttered.

Before Shirou could reply, Natsu intervened. "Don't worry, Lucy," Natsu pointed a finger in the air, his eyes shut as he explained, "Even if it does, he's not a combat wizard. It's not like we can take cake magic into the battlefield."

"He's right." Gray nodded. "Emiya's magic seems to be specialized." Gray lowered his head, a look of pity etched on his face.

"No." Everyone turned to Erza, who had somehow finished the three tier cake. "As I said before, Emiya's magic is strengthening magic. He can use it on anything." Erza placed her fork down. Receiving a towel from Shirou, she wiped her face before speaking. "He even used it on himself back when we first met. He took a shot from a magic shotgun at near point blank range to save my life."

"No way!" Lucy's eyes were wide. She seemed to be shocked at hearing that Shirou took a shot from a magic shotgun and the fact that Erza's life was even in danger before. "That's impressive magic, Emiya!"

"I agree with Lucy. Not many can take a shot from a magic shotgun and walk away." Gray crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, his eyes were shut as he contemplated the information they were just given.

Natsu excitedly jumped in his seat. "Cake magic is awesome! You should join the guild, chef guy! We could go on missions!"

"Natsu... You're being too bold." Erza scolded. She shifted her focus to the red haired magus. "And... As harsh as it sounds, Emiya would not make it very far off of strengthening magic alone."

Everyone turned away their eyes, an awkward silence falling over the once cheerful group.

"Actually..."

* * *

Everyone looked back up at Shirou, appearing to be surprised at news they had yet to hear. Erza narrowed her eyes, from the moment Shirou had spoken up, she expected to hear one of two things. Either Reinforcement was stronger than she thought it was, or Shirou possessed mastery in more types of magic. "Reinforcement isn't the only magic that I can use. I have three types of magic, four if you count the extended use of one of them."

Erza was surprised, but her demeanor showed nothing. To think that some random guy she found not even four days ago possessed three, and possibly four, types of magic. Although, the fact that he had possessed more than Reinforcement had brought up a question. "Emiya, would I be safe to assume that your other magic is practical for combat?"

Shirou nodded.

"Then why did you not use them at the inn when our lives were in danger?"

"I'm sorry, Erza. I couldn't use anything stronger than Reinforcement because my circuits were still recovering."

Lucy, who had been listening in on the conversation, took on a look of confusion. "Circuits?" She asked.

"Yeah, you know how it is." Shirou shrugged.

Natsu, Gray, and Lucy all shared a confused look with each other. None of them entirely sure what he was talking about, or whether they actually knew how it was or not.

"Sorry, what do you mean by circuits?" Lucy asked, scratching the back of her head with an awkward chuckle.

Shirou's eyes slightly widened, but he immediately forced them back to normal. He ran his gaze over each of them, noticing the confusion spread across their features. He messed up...

"Sorry about that." Shirou nervously ran a hand through his hair. "I meant I was exhausted from using too much magic, so Reinforcement was all that I could use at the time." The three nodded at the much clearer explanation, figuring he just had a weird way of speaking. Erza was the only one who did not nod along to his explanation.

Erza had grown suspicious of him. She had no doubt that Shirou was a kind person, but this was the second time he had spoken about 'Circuits'. She was curious about the secrets that he was keeping from everyone, but Fairy Tail wasn't a guild that would pry into someone's personal life. All that mattered was whether or not Shirou's intentions were just.

Erza's attention shifted to the spiky pink haired wizard, there was a gleam in his eyes she was all too familiar with. He shot up from his seat, sending his chair flying into some unfortunate guild member. He slammed his fist down, the forceful impact causing the table to shake and the dishes to rattle. His smile wide and his glowing eyes locked on Shirou, Erza knew exactly what he wanted.

"Chef guy, fight me!"

A loud clank reverberated through the air as Erza's armored hand came crashing down on Natsu's head. "Natsu, Emiya has a job to do. We shouldn't hold him up."

Shirou stood up from his seat. "That's right, my break is over. Thank you for your time, it was nice meeting you all." With that, Emiya Shirou returned to his test run as a chef. He would undoubtedly get the job after the cake stunt he pulled.

"You can always count on Natsu to challenge random people to a fight." Mocked Gray.

"What was that!?" Natsu shouted out in anger.

Gray instinctively shot up from his chair. Natsu came running up and the two clashed heads... literally.

"You wanna fight?!"

As Gray and Natsu began insulting each other, a tall man with white hair and a tan came by, a chair being held in his hands. "Hey, real men don't-" Natsu and Gray's fists made contact with his face, sending him flying into the table behind. As the man's back impacted the wooden surface, the weight and force of the impact caused the legs to buckle. The table split in half, leaving the man lying on the ground surround by broken pieces of wood. This whole thing caused a dispute with the people who were seated there.

Erza sighed before taking a sip of the tea Shirou brought with the cake. Soon enough, a fight would break out and someone would have to stop it.

Erza's tea came splashing out of the cup and onto her skirt as a chair flew straight into her head. Her lips were glued to the rim of the cup as blood trickled down her head. She was glad that Shirou had not been here to witness the beginning of the brawl, and even more so that he wasn't here to witness how it ends.

Lucy was quick to jump from her chair to escape the madness, tears flowing down her face as she fled with the flying blue cat. She dodged incoming chairs, cups, tables, and even people, on her way to the bar near Mirajane. Erza's aura appeared to be far too monstrous for the innocent(ish) girl to handle.

* * *

Shirou stood behind the bar, with a white cloth in his hand. He ran his hand around in circular motion, wiping away at the counter top. Mirajane had left to do chores before the night fell and he was left to take the orders himself.

He sighed as he recalled his conversation with Erza and her friends. He had thought that people here used magic or magecraft through the same means and so he mentioned his circuits, which brought up another problem. He brought up his circuits around the time he met Erza, her lack of a reaction deceived him into thinking that it was normal for magi or, 'wizards', in this world to have magic circuits. He would definitely have to look into the basics of this world once he managed to maintain a stable life. For now, he would have to work his hardest without arousing suspicion. Shirou didn't know if they had mental facilities here, but they might put him in one if he mentioned the fact that he was from another world.

The noise of silverware sliding against a smooth ceramic surface broke Shirou from his thoughts.

At the far left, the guild master sat on top of a stool. A single slice of reinforced strawberry cake was on top of a white plate in front of the old wizard. He was sworn to secrecy by Shirou, due to the fact that everyone would want their food Reinforced if they found out about his unique ability. Granted, it was a one time use which was only to satiate the master's curiosity.

"This is wonderful. Even without the use of your magic, this cake would have been top class." Makarov downed the last of his cake. "Might I ask where you learned to cook?"

Shirou's gaze shifted from the counter top to the dark eyes of the old man. "I'm actually self taught." Shirou finally stopped moving his arm, the counter was as clean as he could get it. He noticed surprise begin to form on Makarov's face. "My old man was a terrible cook, so I decided to do all of the cooking. I soon came to enjoy cooking and I grew up doing it."

"For someone who is self taught, your skill is impressive." Makarov pushed his plate toward Shirou, who took it and brought it to the kitchen. Once Shirou came back, he stood up on the stool. "I'm going to hit the hay now." He jumped off onto the floor and began walking off. "Oh yeah." Makarov stopped and turned back to Shirou. "Do you have a place to stay, Emiya?"

Shirou, who was undoing the knot on his apron, shook his head.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to pay you this week in advance. There's an inn not too far away from the guild house that you could stay in."

The apron nearly fell out of Shirou's hand once he got it off. "I can't possibly-"

Makarov raised his hand, cutting Shirou off before he could finish speaking. "No. It is my responsibility as the master of this guild to make sure that everyone in it is cared for."

Shirou was about to remind Makarov that he wasn't a guild member, but he decided that it would be useless. It would also be rude to turn down an act of such kindness.

"Thank you." Shirou bowed lightly before walking off into the kitchen to return his apron and shut everything off. Once he had returned, he spotted Makarov's small figure walking off. When his gaze moved down to the counter, he saw a small white envelope addressed to him.

'He's fast for his age.' Shirou thought to himself.

Upon checking the envelope, he found nearly 34,000 jewel inside as well as the name and location of the nearest inn. He was no expert on the currency from this world, but from what he could tell, Jewel worked similar to Yen. Which meant that he currently had a little over 30,000 Yen, or 277 US dollars, or around 250 Euros, or a little over 235 Pounds... the point was that it was a lot of money for his current occupation.

Shirou smiled to himself in the dark and near empty hall. His cake was definitely good, but if this was his weekly paycheck, then Makarov was obviously overpaying him. Or not, considering the amount of people he has to cook for. Shirou took a deep breath. If he had to live here for a while, things might not be so bad. Though, he doubted that the pay would remain this high since it was only an advance. For how many working weeks, he didn't know.

With the exit in sight, Shirou began walking. He casually past a few of the older and more nocturnal guild members on his path. Halfway to the exit, something caught Shirou's eyes. Near the wall was a large board with hundreds of paper nailed into it. He didn't like to snoop, but he managed to read some of the writings on one paper and he didn't like what it said.

He stopped for a moment before turning and making his way to the giant board. He found request after request, written on paper and nailed to the board. He then remembered that he was standing in a guild house, which meant that there would obviously be jobs. But if this was what he thought it was, then that meant no one was taking any of these requests.

Shirou's face became pale. His already wide eyes became wider as they sparked with a devastating realization. Most would see one of these papers and think of it as a mere task with a reward, but Emiya Shirou had seen something else when he looked at this board. What he saw was hundreds of people crying for help with no one lending a hand.

His widened eyes trailed down to a specific request. He couldn't read it from where he was. Getting closer, Shirou realized that whoever issued the request had packed too many words on a piece of paper that was far too small, and had to make them smaller. Reading the request, Shirou was filled with a sense of urgency. The request spoke of a dark guild that had moved near a small village and began terrorizing it. The request was a rescue mission, asking for someone to come and free hostages taken by the dark guild. They most likely didn't have enough money to ask for more than a rescue. The idea of not getting saved because you lack the funds to buy your salvation sickened Shirou.

He took note of the location before turning back and scanning the dark and empty hall, looking for someone who might still be awake at this hour. He spotted a middle aged man with purple hair drinking an alcoholic beverage with another man of the same age.

The two stopped their gossip once they noticed Shirou rushing over to their table. "Oh, you're the new chef. Can we help ya?" Asked the purple haired man.

Shirou resisted the urge to cover his nose as the man spoke. "Where can I find a map?"

The two men looked at each other before turning back to Shirou. "My Ex-wife used to shop at a local store two streets down that way." He pointed straight at the exit. "You might be able to find one there."

Shirou took note of the direction he pointed in. He might have had a little too much to drink if he was giving directions to a store by pointing.

"Thank you." Shirou wasted no time, he was practically running on his way to the exit of the guild house.

As soon as he made it out of the door, he started to actually run. They may have only requested for a rescue, but Shirou would do more than that. He had a new mission now. Finding a way home was now his secondary objective, people were suffering at this very moment.

* * *

Erza had been leaning against the wall for nearly an hour, waiting for Shirou's shift to end. She was thinking about meeting up with him earlier when he received his pay from Makarov. She had been thinking of a fine quality inn that he could stay at when she noticed him walking up to the request board. When she saw that look on his face, a look full of desperation, she had an idea of what he might be thinking. It wasn't until he asked for a map that her suspicions were confirmed.

She pushed off from the wall. She glanced at the board, examining the request that sparked the most reaction from Shirou. It wasn't even that long since Natsu and the others had broken the rules by taking up an S-class job, and here, her new friend was doing something similar, taking up a job that was too dangerous for himself.

Erza silently promised to take the job in the morning with the rest of her team, she couldn't do anything for them as it was. Right now, Erza Scarlet already had a job. She sighed, realizing that she would have to skip sleep again tonight.

Erza opened the doors and stepped outside. The moon shined brightly, casting the dark town in a blue light. A new goal in mind, she set out to stop Emiya Shirou.

* * *

 **Now it's time to answer a few questions that some reviewers had.**

 **This isn't actually a question, but miguelgiuliano asked me to meld Shirou into the world more and make his magecraft fit more along the lines of the FT universe by saying projection is a combination of molding and creation magic. Now here's why that isn't possible for my story. Shirou is from another world, so it wouldn't make sense for him to all of the sudden fit into it. And I believe Emiya Shirou himself said, "To create a world which contains an infinite amount of swords, that is the only magic allowed to Emiya Shirou."**

 **Now, other readers asked about Rin, and why Shirou would just suddenly stop loving her. I was hoping to hint at this and keep it a surprise, but this is a version of UBW Shirou that never loved Rin. Yes, it's an original Shirou technically, but it's literally UBW Shirou but without the Rin Ship.**

 **Guest 907 gave me some words of encouragement. "** **Your writing doesn't suck, stop saying that. There are a few errors, but nothing that would kill the story. Keep it up." I guess Fanfiction set the bar low enough for me to climb over it, eh? Thanks, Guest 907. It's good to know that my story wasn't as unreadable as I thought it was.  
**

 **As always, thank you all for reading. I will see you next time.**

 **UPDATE: lol, you guys are really making it hard for me to say that this is an alternate version of UBW Shirou. (Have you no imagination?!).**


	5. Daisies

**AN: Sorry guys, my Beta was busy and the 22nd A.K.A. end of the competition was nearing, so I had to hurry. Then again, I'm not sure if we have to end the story after making it to 20k words. If that's the case, then I'm screwed since this chapter has the ending of a mid season finale from some CW show or something. No, mid season finales are stupid and this story isn't even on a break or anything.**

 **Well, with that said, I hope you enjoy my unedited chapter. (You won't, it's a pretty weird chapter).**

* * *

According to the map, the village in the request wasn't actually a place one could get to by train alone. Shirou had to stop at a nearby town and walk the rest of the way on foot. He had already passed countless trees and clearings and if he was right, he was rather close to the village.

He reached out with his arms to push away some shrubs that were blocking his path. As soon as he made it through, he saw a light peaking through the many trees. He was almost out of the forest.

"Hey, you!"

Shirou turned his head to the owner of the commanding voice. Standing in a clearing were two men. The one who shouted earlier appeared to be a man in his late thirties. He was dressed in a simple green tunic with a leather breast plate and a pair of dark brown slacks with knee pads over them.

Though, it was his partner that caught Shirou's attention. He was dressed in similar clothing to his partner, albeit different colors, but what really struck Shirou was the fact that he had a bear's head. Now that Shirou thought of it, he definitely saw some weird people when Erza had taken him through the town. Some even looked like animals... not to mention a blue cat that spoke words and stood upright on two feet when it wasn't flying.

"What are you doing out here? Get back to the village!" Yelled the bear headed man.

Shirou stepped forward, looking the bear man in the eyes. "I came here after hearing about this dark guild who settled at a village close to here. According to my information, they have been tormenting the people. Are you two members of that guild?"

The men looked at each other before laughing. "So what if we are?" Said the human one.

"Tell me," Shirou spoke. His voice cold and demanding. "Where is the one in charge?"

The two men burst into laughter once more. "Boy, you're wet behind the ears if you think you can take on an entire guild!"

The man stopped laughing the moment he saw a large log break over the face of his bear headed partner. He falls to the ground with his mouth open and his tongue dangling onto the dirty ground. He was out cold.

He turned back to the one responsible, only to find that he closed the distance and was now inches away.

Shirou Reinforced his body as he kicked the man in the side. His body ragdolled as it was sent into a nearby tree. The man tried to stand up only to fall back down and cough up some blood. "I'll ask again." The man turned and looked up at Shirou. "Where is your master?"

"Y-you're going to pay for this." The man managed to stand up. His legs were weak and shaky.

Shirou sighed. This man was definitely not going to provide him with the information he needed. Taking a step forward, he gripped the man's neck and forced his head into the side of the tree. The man was weak enough that an unreinforced blow knocked him unconscious.

* * *

After performing alteration on a branch, Shirou used it to tie up the men he had captured. He would call the authorities to pick them up once this was all over.

Looking back, Shirou could see a few buildings peaking through the trees. They were small and medium sized wooden structures. They weren't as advanced as the buildings he had seen in the town, which led him to believe that it was part of the village he was looking for. After brushing the dust off of his pants, Shirou took a deep breath and began walking into the village.

He entered through an alley way that faced the forest rather than taking the normal path. The gap between the buildings was dark and narrow, but it provided cover. If this village was dark guild controlled, then he made the right choice taking the sneaky route. Shirou leaned against one of the walls as he poked his head out of the alley. He saw normal villagers walking about on the streets. Some were vendors or sales people. It all seemed pretty normal for this world, but something was off.

Shirou shifted his gaze to each individual, scanning everyone. He noticed a few of the people wearing odd clothing. Similar to that of the dark guild members he took out. It was then that Shirou realized that they were on patrol.

He had to find the base of operations fast. The problem was that Shirou had no idea how to do that... Maybe a bar?

A bar would be a suitable place to gain information. Mainly because it would have to be a place frequently visited by natives or occupants of the village, and if anyone knew what was going on, it was the people who lived there. That is if they had a bar.

' _I remember going to bars to gather information._ ' Shirou thought to himself. He flashed back to a memory of his. He grabbed a cup of ginger ale and raised it to his mouth, his tan hand visibl-... _'Right, that wasn't me..._ ' Shirou had gained some memories and experience from Archer, not just from his time as a Counter Guardian, but as a human too.

Shaking his head free of the memories, Shirou waited until nobody was looking before dashing out of the alley and onto the street. Once he was on the street, he slowed down to a walk in order to blend in. He looked around for structures that looked even remotely like a bar. Once he began to pick of the strong scent of alcohol, Shirou turned and noticed a small wooden structure. It had stairs leading to a porch with some type of awning over it. With the sign above the awning confirming that it was indeed some kind of bar, Shirou walked up the stairs and stepped inside.

The place wasn't packed full, but there was still a lot of people inside. To the left sat an area for the bartender with stools going all the way down to the wall. Shirou walked down to the very last stool with the least amount of people. As he sat down, he noticed that the bartender was serving everybody alcohol. Shirou didn't drink, one reason being because he was only 17, another being the negative effects of alcohol on the body.

The bartender finished serving one of the customers before glancing at Shirou. After placing a few items back where they belonged, the bartender began walking down to him from the other side of the counter.  
Stopping in front of Shirou, the man threw his towel over his shoulder and leaned against the counter. "What can I get you?" The man lifted his arm, raising two fingers to push his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"I need some information."

The man stood with his mouth open for a while before closing it and coughing to clear his throat. He drew a bit of attention from the other customers, but waved them off. "What kind of information?"

Shirou stared into the man's eyes. He could sense a hint of fear in them, as if he were hesitant to comply. "Do you know where the dark guild is stationed?"

"Look." The guys spoke. He glanced around the room and then turned back to Shirou. "It's best if you just keep quiet about that."

"Don't worry." Shirou began. "I'm a wizard, I saw your request. Just point me in the right direction. They won't even know I spoke to you."

The bartender sighed, rubbing his temple. "Okay." He whispered. Leaning in closer to Shirou to minimize the volume of his voice. "The rumors are that they're stationed in the mountains."

"Rumors?" Shirou asked. If these were mere rumors and turned out to be false, Shirou would have to wander aimlessly until he just stumbled upon the dark guild house.

"Well, they aren't baseless rumors." The bartender glanced back at the other customers. Some of them were becoming suspicious of both him and his new customer. He had to wrap this up fast. "I had a customer come in the other day." He took a deep breath before starting his story.

"A while back, a customer came in." The man's eyes gazed through the counter top as he recalled his experience. "He was a mess, and he smelled like it too. He sat in the same stool you're in right now, ordering the heaviest alcoholic beverage we have... Hey, you should order something, we look suspicious."

Shirou nodded. "I'll have some water."

The man turned to the shelf behind him before grabbing a glass cup off of the shelf. "He ordered drink after drink. It wasn't long before he got drunk." He grabbed a pitcher filled with ice and water. Turning the pitcher, water soon filled the glass below it. "He started muttering to himself. I asked him what was wrong, and that was when he told me about the dark guild." Putting the pitcher away, he slid the glass to Shirou who took a sip.

"He told me about his sister. He said that she went into the forest near the mountains to pick some Daisies." The bartender sighed as he raised his hand to push his glasses up once more. "His mother, who was bedridden, began to worry and sent him out to go check on her. As he made it into the forest, he saw some people leading his sister into the mountains. He called out to her, which alerted the guild to his presence. He barely made it out alive. After he finished his story, some people came in. They dragged him away and told me to keep my mouth shut... so much for that."

Shirou's eyes were wide. He knew that the villagers were under the tyranny of the dark guild, but he had no idea it was this bad. He had to stop himself from jolting up from his seat as he spoke. "How long ago was that?"

The bartender sensed urgency in Shirou's voice and tried to ease him. "Calm down. It was a few weeks ago. This is all I know about the situation."

Shirou stood up from his chair. Reaching into his pocket, he pinched 7,500 Jewel between is fingers and pulled them out. "Here."

The bartender looked at the cash with wide eyes. "You're over paying me."

Shirou shook his head. "The 200 is for the water. The rest is for you." With that, Shirou turned away. Before he could get anywhere, the Bartender reached over the counter and grabbed his shoulder.

"I don't know who you are, but if you can really save us..." The man's voice grew silent as he saw Shirou's eyes. He saw something in them. He saw steel.

"I'll try my best." Shirou turned back to the exit. As he made it outside, he scanned the far away forest for mountains. In the distance were two large rocky peaks. Shirou walked as fast as he could without arousing suspicion. His golden eyes were hardened by determination, there was not even a trace of fear found in them.

* * *

Emiya Shirou was fast, that much was apparent when Erza had to follow him to this village. She had nearly lost him when his boarded the train, as it took off immediately after. She had almost lost him again when she followed him into the forest. Members of some Dark Guild had attacked her, leaving her no time to subdue Shirou.

She made it into the village soon after dealing with the low lives. Looking around, Shirou was not in sight. That much was understandable since she had just entered the village. People walking by would stare at Erza. Some secretly cowering at her horrifying demeanor, and others gleaming with recognition.

Erza decided to ignore the stares and continued walking around, searching every street and dark alley for Shirou. If she didn't find him soon, she would have to start entering the buildings. But before she could do even that, something had caught her attention. A white shirt in the corner of her eye.

As she turned, she saw blue sleeves attached to the shirt. It was definitely Shirou. For some reason, he was making his way to the forest, and fast. Erza stepped forward, preparing to call out for him. "Em-" She stopped herself out of habit as a voice interrupted her.

"So, you're Titania?"

Erza turned back to see a group of shady men. They looked like they were from the same guild as those men she fought earlier, the only difference was that these guys had time to draw their weapons. "I suggest you turn yourselves in to the authorities." Erza turned away and looked back to the forest. Shirou was getting away, she didn't have the time to deal with this.

The man in front of the group began laughing and the rest donned smug grins. "We are the authorities around here!" He then raised his arm in the air before waving off to someone.

Erza took note of where he was waving to and turned to see more people walking in. At least 30 wizards had now surrounded her, all with weapons drawn.

"Yer a purty famous. Quite a topic among us dark guilds." The man shifted his sword, sunlight reflecting off of the partially rusted blade. "The only problem is..." His body drew into a stance, he was ready to attack at any moment. "Some of us get tired of hearin' about ya."

Erza's eyes remained hidden by a shadow as she looked down to the ground. Her fists clenched and shaking with anger. The sight itself was not pleasent and some of the wizards broke formation just to stand further away.

As a quiet, angry growl could be heard from her, a few people were beginning to regret their career decisions.

* * *

A large dark blue structure could be spotted through the trees. The dark guild house was more modern looking than any building Shirou had seen in this world. The box shaped stone building was fitted with large tinted glass windows at the front, the building itself was rather large for a guild house. It was a few times larger than Fairy Tail's guild house.

Not wanting to waste any more time gawking over the large building, Shirou silently stepped around the clearing and closer to the building, camouflaged by the thick layers of greenery. As he walked, he memorized the positioning of the guards who were on patrol.

The fact that there were guards patrolling the location was odd to Shirou. Was it even normal for guilds to do that? Fairy Tail didn't... then again, Fairy Tail isn't the ideal role model for other guilds.

Shirou stopped behind two large shrubs and a log. He had already made it as close to the building as he could without stepping out into the clearing. His eyes scanned the environment, taking note of his enemies and their surroundings. There were a few wooden crates with unknown contents throughout the yard. Some of the wizards seemed to be guarding the crates, standing by them with caution, and others seemed to just be on patrol. Looking up, there were around seven of them on the building as well.

Standing up behind the cover of the greenery, Shirou extended his arms at his sides. Circuits thrummed to life as od flowed through his body and to his hands. What appeared to be a blue crackle of electricity emanated from his hands. The one in the left hand formed into a large wooden recurve bow and the blue light under his right hand formed into a blunt steel arrow.

Standing at a side angle with legs apart, Shirou raised the bow, pointing it at the sky. He knocked the arrow in and pulled back, slowly lowering the weapon and aiming at his target. He took a deep breath before releasing his hold on the blunt arrow. By the time he had let go, he was already tracing another non lethal arrow for his next target. Within two seconds, all seven of the guards on the rooftop had been impacted with arrows to their heads, falling unconscious.

Shirou dispelled his bow and traced a single steel escrima. He sprinted over to the nearest crate, jumping and vaulting over it. The wizard on the other side looked up after hearing the crates move only to be hit on the head with a piece of steel, falling to the ground. Shirou picked up the unconscious body and set it on the other side.

Darting over to the next crate, Shirou noticed it had two wizards guarding it instead of one. He tossed the escrima into his left hand and raised it before swinging at the face of the nearest guard. As Shirou spun, he wrapped his right arm around the neck of the sleeping man's neck. Utilizing his momentum with a reinforced body, he threw the unconscious guard into the nearby bushes and delivered a powerful blow to the other guard at the same time. He then used the same throw to toss the other guard into the cover of the greens.

Moving onto the crate, Shirou pushed with his reinforced legs, jumping high into the air. As he moved through the air, he turned upside down and tossed the escrima at another guard. As he began to fall, Shirou traced another escrima before landing behind another one of the crates. The guard noticed Shirou, but he was swiftly dealt with before he could do anything.

With the entrance in sight, Shirou traced another escrima as he made a mad dash for the doors. Two more wizards who were guarding the entrance to the guild noticed Shirou sprinting their way. Before they could alert the others, Shirou threw the traced weapons straight at their heads.

This was the moment that decided what Shirou did next. Their could be other guild members just behind those doors, or even some who may have noticed him through the windows. If that were the case, he'd have to trace stronger weapons and fight his way into the guild house. As he drew close to the entrance, Shirou dispelled his traced weapons and grabbed the two unconscious bodies. He turned sideways, using his shoulder to open one of the doors.

The entrance was empty. No one was present here. It couldn't even be called a guild house with how the layout was. It was dark inside, not even a single light source could be found. The light from the windows provided just enough visibility for Shirou to notice that the floor was metallic. A set of stairs rested on either side of the poorly lit hall, both made of some sort of metal. He set the bodies at the door behind him, holding it shut.

Further down the hall was too dark for Shirou to see. Stopping for a few moments, Shirou pumped od into his eyes, reinforcing them and allowing him to see in the darkness. With his visibility problem solved, he nodded to himself and continued. Down ahead, he noticed a large set of stairs leading down into the floor.

Shirou walked down the steps. As he looked down to where the stairs lead, it seemed to be endless. The destination appeared to be dark for a while until a green light came into view. The green light turned out to be reflecting off of the metallic ground. Once he finally passed the stairs and stepped onto the floor again, he saw where the green light was coming from.

Giant glass containers filled with glowing green liquid could be found all over the room. Inside the containers were strange shaped rocks of different colors and sizes. The liquid bubbled up and the rocks seemed to be moving.

"Hey!"

Shirou turned to see several men and women heading his way. Each one had a white lab coat on, which means that they were either researchers, scientists or cosplayers.

"You can't be down here!" Said one of the men.

Shirou stared into the man's eyes, the sharpness of his steel gaze cut through him, intimidating him. "What's in those containers?"

The group turned inwards and began muttering to each other with confused looks on their faces. After a few moments, they looked back to Shirou and began walking in his direction. With caution in their steps, they each spread out and drew into battle ready stances, some even pulled weapons out from nowhere.

"You don't belong to this guild, do you?" Asked the same man from before.

Shirou sighed. Not bothering to provide the obvious answer to their question, he too took up a battle stance. His arms extended, he grasped imaginary handles. Activating seven more circuits, Shirou traced his favorite weapons. Blue crackles of energy in either hand took the shape of two Chinese falchions. As the tracing process completed, Kanshou and Bakuya fell into his hands.

With the beautiful married blades in his grasp, Shirou took up his usual suicidal stance. "I'll give you one chance to surrender."

* * *

Erza was furious. She would have found Shirou and dragged him back to Magnolia if not for a few petty wizards. As she finished tying the knot on their binds, she stood up and scanned the area. Shirou was gone and she didn't want to just walk in the same direction, hoping to stumble upon him. She would have to find out where he was going and Based on the objective of this quest, 'rescue the hostages', Shirou was looking for their guild house.

The wizards she had apprehended hadn't spoken a word about where their guild is stationed. She flashed back to the moment she saw Shirou. Where did he come from before running into that forest? She shifted focus to a few buildings. Each of them lined up to the opposite direction of where Shirou had run off to. Two of them were mere houses, but a building between the two stood out to Erza. A bar.

Since Shirou himself didn't know the exact location of the dark guild, he definitely had to gather that sort of information at some point and a bar was a decent place to do so. Though, she was almost disappointed that someone his age thought of doing something like that. Erza had gone to a few bars and pubs to gather information before, though most of the time it was just to see if they served cake, she was 19 so it wasn't odd for her to think that way. Erza shook her head, clearing away useless thoughts, she stepped into the bar.

The moment she opened the door, she scanned the room for an employee. At the far left was a worn out wooden counter, stools lined up on the outside for customers to sit. The middle of the room was cleared out, only an old, chipped wooden floor in sight. But at the right side, several medium sized tables were spaced evenly across the area. Each table had around three chairs, few of them went unused, but that was to be expected for the only bar in a small village.

Erza's eyes shifted to the far back of the room, In the far back corner near a table, Erza spotted a black haired girl in a uniform writing in a notepad and began walking over to her. "You there." If anyone could tell her who entered, it would be someone who worked there.

The innocent looking girl jumped at the sound of Erza's demanding tone. "Yes?"

"Have you seen a man with red hair and golden eyes around here?" Erza asked.

The waitress paused for a moment. Her head tilted down and her green eyes rolled to the left as she pondered. "Well..." It must have been hard for her. She definitely saw a few people with red hair enter the bar... but Erza had mentioned golden eyes. Pretty much everyone had brown, green or black eyes and the only person she had seen in her life with golden eyes was a guy who ordered water at the counter a few minutes ago. "I've seen him. Are you his sister?"

"No." Sister? Why would this lady think she's Shirou's sister? They looked nothing alike. "What was he doing?"

"He was talking to Jacob... and then he ordered some water." The waitress stood still. Satisfied with the thought that she had helped someone out, Erza's confused expression had nearly gone unnoticed. "Oh! He's the bartender." The girl pointed at the brown haired man behind the counter.

Erza had not seen the man when she entered, perhaps he was in the back? Regardless, she had a job to do and couldn't think about it any further. Stepping up to the counter, Erza had gotten a closer look at the man. He was actually a bit young to be a bartender he was probably around Gray's age. She pulled out a stool from under the counter and sat down, waiting for the bartender to finish up with the other customers.

Normally she would have stood instead since she was in a rush, but she was tired and exhausted. She hadn't even had a second of sleep since the incident with the murder inn. Not that she didn't want to sleep, but she didn't completely trust the new inn they found and decided to stay up that night. And then on the ride home, she had stayed awake as she didn't completely trust Shirou or the other passengers. Not to mention that she had bought a random magic vehicle in a hurry to catch up with the train and being the driver, she had to stay awake the entire night's drive to the village.

Erza closed her eyes, hoping to provide them with even a little bit of rest. After a few seconds, she sensed the bartender entering her vicinity. Her eyes seemed to burn as she opened them. The man was about to ask Erza about her order when she interrupted him. "There was a man with red hair and golden eyes here, what did you two speak about?"

The bartender took a step back. "What is your business with him?" It appears that Shirou had built up some amity with the man, and Erza asking about him in a hasty tone had came off as suspicious.

"He took up a request on a guild board despite not being a wizard." The man's mood visibly dropped. He had probably thought that Shirou took up the request they sent out and assumed he was a wizard. "I'm here to bring him back. Can you tell me where he is?" he stood silent for a few moments, appearing to be muttering something. From what Erza could hear, he was disappointed. She felt a little guilty that someone from her guild came to such a place, giving people false hope.

"He's probably on his way to the dark guild right now. They're stationed behind the only two mountains in our village. If that's all, then I have to get back to work." The bartender reached for the towel that rested atop the shoulder of his vest. Grasping it, he pulled down the towel on his shoulder before using it to wipe the counter top.

Erza thanked the young man as she stood up, sliding her stool back under the counter top. She turned to her left and began walking towards the exit.

* * *

Everything appeared to be silent. The floor littered with broken magic weapons and unconscious researchers. Save for one who was currently crawling away from Shirou. He sat upright, using he left hand and legs to push himself further away. In his right hand, he held the handle of a shattered sword. The blade crumbled as he pointed it at the red haired magus. "Those magic swords... they're certainly top grade."

Shirou remained silent. Stepping forward, kicking the researcher's hand at a speed so fast, he reacted after it happened. "What are you people doing in here?"

The researcher chuckled as if he didn't have a sword pointed at him. "It wouldn't matter." He spoke. "Not to you anyway. You're strong enough."

Shirou was annoyed. These people were stubborn and pretty much never said anything. What kind of loyalty was this? Who could make these people stay quiet until the very end? Flipping Bakuya into a reverse grip, Shirou held it at the man's neck, threatening to slice it. It wasn't as if he were going to kill him though, Shirou promised that he would save everyone, even the bad guys. "Where are the hostages?" Shirou's voice was cold and unnerving, but the researcher would not break. Instead he turned his head to the right, looking at one of the containers with the lumpy gray rocks.

Shirou looked to the container and saw what the man was looking at. Behind it was another man in a lab coat crouched low to the ground. As soon as Shirou spotted him, he ran out and started making his way over to the stairs. Before he could pursue the other researcher, the man he was interrogating moments ago grabbed his arm with both hands.

"Go! I'll distract him, just notify the commander!" Shouted the downed researcher.

His distraction didn't last long, as Shirou reinforced his entire body and stood up. He slung his arm back before stopping it abruptly. The man lost his grip on Shirou's arm and flew straight into the stone wall behind.

As soon as that was over, Shirou turned back to the stairs. Running with a reinforced body, he made it to the stairs only to notice the man from earlier was already at the top. The previous interaction only lasted two seconds, so he must have had some type of magic that let him run fast. Luckily, bodily reinforcement allowed Shirou to move at faster speeds too.

Dashing through the steps of the stairs, Shirou made it up in no time. He turned back to the other set of stairs leading to the second floor. The stairs were too slow. Instead, Shirou dispelled the married swords as he jumped over the stairs and straight onto the second floor. He turned to his right and took a few steps before taking another right. The man was right before Shirou, his back turned as he reached for the door in front of him.

Deciding that he would have to lose the element of surprise and just face the guild master, Shirou kicked the man and sent him through the door. His body shattered the door and flew into a chair somewhere in the room.

As Shirou stepped through the doorway, he saw a dark room lit up only by the light from the large windows straight ahead. Furniture could be seen on either side of the place. Further ahead, a desk sat near the end of the room. Past the desk, a man wearing a full set of armor could be seen with his hands behind his back, staring blankly out the window.

"Where are the hostages?" Shirou spoke.

The man turned around slowly, revealing white hair and a face riddled with scars. "You were a fool to come here."

Shirou dashed forward, making it to the desk in less than a second. "Answer the question."

The armored man raised his arm and extended it toward Shirou. His hand opened as a strange green circle formed in front of it. A green light sparked up and Shirou's instincts took over. Moving to the right, he grabbed the guild master's arm and vaulted over the desk. Once on the other side, he executed a leg sweep and pulled on his arm before slamming his body into the desk, breaking it in half.

Before Shirou could interrogate him any further, the scar faced man interrupted him. Smiling as he spoke in a calm voice, he said, "You want to know what we did with the villagers?"

A feeling of dread took over as Shirou saw his smile widening. Sharp teeth became visible as he pointed back behind the desk. Not loosening his hold on the man, Shirou looked up from him. A bright green light was visible through the darkness. It shined brightly. Straight at the young magus, as if it were... staring at him.

Immediately, Shirou released his hold on the armored man. He reinforced his body to the fullest before tracing the married blades once more. Lifting Kanshou and Bakuya up, he crossed them into an X shape.

A large gray, stony fist impacted the married swords. The force of the blow sent Shirou flying from his spot, straight through the glass windows and back outside. He spun in the air before regaining his balance. Landing on reinforced feet, he rolled backwards and stabbed Bakuya into the ground, forcing his body to slide instead. Once he came to a stop, he looked up at the window he had just came through.

A large, bulky creature made of rocks and stone stood at the window inside the building. It's eyes shimmered a bright green color as it stared straight at Shirou. Inside the building, Shirou saw the man climb onto the creature. Once he took his place upon its shoulder, the creature made its move. It jumped out of the building, roaring loudly as it seemed to be coming straight at Shirou.

He jumped out of the way at the last second. The creature's fists hit with enough force to create a small crater in the ground, causing dust to fly up. It turned toward Shirou and instantly began chasing him again. It attempted to deliver a bone crushing blow, but Shirou jumped over the fist. While he was in the air, he swung down the married swords, slashing at its arms several times.

The rock golem pulled back. It just stood still, watching Shirou for a while. Now that it stood still, he could get a better look at the creature. It seemed to be doing something until the scar faced man grasped its head. the same green circles from earlier appeared on the surface of the creature's head. It began roaring and thrashing around as sparks of energy came from the circles. A few moments later, it suddenly stopped. Looking back to Shirou, it began running.

Preparing to dodge the charge, Shirou readied Kanshou and Bakuya in a reverse grip as he ran right at it. As it came closer, he lowered his body and slid. Raising the married blades, he stabbed them into the knee joints of the creature. After sliding through its legs, he jumped and kicked the creature's back with all his might. With its joints damaged, the rock monster had no choice but to fall onto its knees.

After projecting the married blades again, Shirou leapt into the air. The married swords began to reform as they came down into a slash. In a lighting quick flash, they turned from beautifully crafted short swords, to jagged, crystalline long swords. The deadly variation of the married blades cleaved through the golem's stone arm, cutting it off.

The golem's eyes gleamed as it screeched loudly, as if it felt great pain. Shirou jumped away as its arm impacted the ground, creating a large cloud of dust. It stood there, screeching for a while as its amputated arm twitched violently. Its screeches soon turned into pathetic whimpers and as its arm stopped moving, Shirou stepped forward. The creature kept its hands closed throughout the entire fight, but after he cut off its arm, the hand opened.

A single daisy lay atop the open palm of the amputated arm.

Time stopped as his surroundings turned into a blinding white color. Shirou's eyes widened and his face became pale. He wanted to vomit. ' _He told me about his sister. He said that she went into the forest near the mountains to pick some daisies._ ' ' _You want to know what we did with the villagers?_ ' A single flower petal fell in front of Shirou's face. it was the only thing he could focus on.

The red haired magus was broken from his thoughts as a large stone fist crashed into his chest. He was sent flying back several meters. After hitting the ground, his body began rolling until he hit a tree and came to a stop. He wasn't prepared for that attack, he was off guard and couldn't keep the reinforcement going when it hit him. Standing up, Shirou felt a sharp pain in his chest. Lifting his arm towards his chest, he felt his ribs. Six of them were broken.

A loud screech pierced Shirou's ears, causing him to recoil. He shifted his gaze toward the creature. It was charging him again. Standing up, Shirou reinforced his body to its limits. Shirou dashed forward at inhuman speeds, shocking both the rock golem and the man on its shoulder. One would think it to be foolish to charge a creature bigger and stronger than yourself, but the creature was not Shirou's target. As he came close his gaze shifted onto the guild master as he jumped onto the creature's shoulder. He reached out and grabbed onto the inside of the man's breast plate before jumping off of the golem.

Once he landed, he threw the man against a tree. Tracing the married swords, Shirou pointed Bakuya at the man. "What did you do?!"

"Turning people into golems wasn't part of the plan." The scar faced man threw his arms up and shrugged. "Though, it was a step forward."

"You're going to turn them back." Shirou scowled.

The man broke out into laughter. "You fool! You can't turn them back! They're bound in that form by a curse!"

Shirou took a step closer, he had to find a way to fix this.

At that moment, Shirou felt a gust of wind against the side of his face. He turned just in time to see the fist of the rock creature only inches away. Shirou barely had enough time to raise the married blades as he was hit with the full force of the creature's punch.

As Shirou lay still on the ground, he contemplated the dark guild master's previous words. ' _They're bound in that form by a curse!_ '. It was like a contract, right? If the contract were broken, then maybe he could save everyone. Something that could sever contracts. Yes... he knew something like that. Searching Unlimited Blade Works, Shirou found just what he was looking for. His body cried out in pain as he pushed himself off the ground, but he ignored it. There were more important things at hand.

The creature noticed Shirou and was prepared to charge him once more. And it did. Shirou began walking, no, limping in toward the creature, his arm extended and his hand grasping something that didn't exist yet. The golem was persistent in its chase. Charging at full speed, it was now mere feet away from Shirou. As it raised its arm in preparation to punch Shirou again, he did something unexpected.

A dagger with a jagged blade pierced the creature's side. Its entire body froze. Nothing would move no matter how much it struggled. And then, cracks began forming all over the its stone body. It began crumbling to pieces before shattering completely. A small little blonde girl, who appeared to be in the center of the body, began falling down.

Shirou managed to catch her before she hit the ground, but things weren't looking too good. It seemed that some of the damage he dealt on it earlier reflected on the girl's body. Her left arm was missing.

He laid the girl on the ground before tearing off the sleeve of his shirt. He wrapped it around her wound, tying the ends across her neck and shoulder. Soon after he finished, he looked up and saw the master of the dark guild with a frown on his scarred face.

"You..." The man spoke. "Don't get a big head thinking you wiped out a dark guild on your own. We're just a branch of a larger tree! Even if you defeat me, you'll never take us all out." He pulled out a dagger from his boot and made a mad dash for Shirou. "You'll never defeat the master!"

As he came closer, Shirou was prepared to trace the married blades to defend himself, but that never came. Instead, an armor clad fist found its way into the man's face, sending him into a nearby tree. Shirou looked to his right and saw a familiar face.

Erza Scarlet stood in front of him. She appeared to be angry, and Shirou could have sworn her eyes were glowing red at some point. "Emiya." She spoke. "Come on, we're going back to Magnolia."

Shirou looked away from Erza and down at the small girl on the ground. If he remembered right, they were making more golems in the basement of their guild house.

"Emiya!" Erza shouted. She came here to get Shirou back and it seemed that she didn't like it when he ignored her. "You could lose your job at the guild for this! And if things went wrong, you could have lost your life!"

Shirou turned back to Erza, his golden steel piercing eyes gazed straight into her soul. "I was prepared for either." His voice was filled with raw determination. It was as if what he was saying was final, no one could change his mind. Erza's eyes widened momentarily. She was taken aback by Shirou's words. "Regardless, there are still people in there that need help. Stay here and watch the girl." Shirou turned away, walking straight for the dark guild house.

* * *

Men in strange robes flooded out of the dark guild building, carrying the rescued hostages on stretchers. Shirou looked to his right and saw two men rushing the little girl from earlier out on a stretcher to his right. He couldn't remove his eyes from her unconscious form. If by chance things didn't go exactly the way they did, she may very well have been a pile of rocks and rubble. Looking away, Shirou spotted a uniformed man headed his way. He had long hair tied into a pony tail and wore small, thin framed glasses.

"Are you sure you found everyone?" Shirou asked. "This dark guild was a research branch, they might be hiding something in that building."

"We have experts searching every corner of the building. If there's anyone else in there, we'll find them. We'll even question the villagers to be sure." The black haired man raised his gloved hand to push up his glasses. "If you'll excuse me, I have to continue an investigation." His white cape blew dramatically in the wind as he turned his back and walked away.

Shirou thanked the man as he walked off. He stood there contemplating his next actions when a cold hand grasped his shoulder. He turned around to see Erza staring at him.

"We're going back now."

Shirou nodded, waiting for Erza to lead the way. When she stepped aside, he realized that she wanted him to lead. Stepping around Erza, Shirou began walking to the location of the nearby town with the train station.

On the way back, he could feel Erza watching him closely. Even if he lost the small amount of trust he built up with her, he didn't regret a single thing.

* * *

Trees and animals became mere blurs as the train continued running at high speed. Shirou kept his gaze on the outside, leaning against the window. Erza had been watching him closely the entire ride back. Shirou glanced to his left, catching a glimpse of Erza before turning back. He noticed that she had dark bags under her eyes.

 _'Did she even sleep at all?'_ Shirou pushed off the window and looked to Erza. "Are you tired?" He asked.

"I'm not going to sleep."

 _'Yeah, I expected you to say that.'_ Shirou turned his head to look back out the window, avoiding awkward eye contact with Erza. How long did she skip sleep? Dark circles like that don't occur after just skipping a single night of sleep. Shirou felt a little guilty about it. Maybe he'd make her another cake once they get back. That is if he still had a job once he got back.

Shirou yawned. He himself hadn't slept since they first came to Magnolia, which means that he pulled two all nighters. Turning away from the window, Shirou stared into Erza's eyes.

Nearly half a minute had past with their staring contest before the train came to a stop. Shirou was the first to stand up. Making his way out of the train, he was soon followed by Erza. She didn't have any luggage with her, she must've left in a rush.

"Emiya."

Shirou stopped. He turned around to see Erza with a serious expression on her face. "Yes?"

"Why did you decide to take up a quest on your own like that?"

Shirou's own expression changed into a serious one as well. "They needed help."

Erza narrowed her eyes. "I would have taken that quest, there was nothing to worry about."

"Then what about the people?" Shirou's voice took a harsh tone. "If I weren't there, you would have just killed those golems without ever knowing they were people."

Erza remained silent. Her head cast down, she clenched her fists as she contemplated. "You need some rest." She spoke. "Let's go. I'll take you to that inn."

Erza stepped past Shirou, taking the lead. He followed her and soon they found themselves in front of a large building made of wood and stone. Stepping inside, they walked up to the old woman behind a nearby desk.

"How long would you like to stay?" She asked.

"Six nights." Shirou answered, he would only need to stay until he finished working off his advance at Fairy Tail. Without a doubt, he would be fired immediately after that.

"That would be 11,000 Jewel."

Shirou reached into his pocket, pulling out the wad of Jewel, he removed 11,000 from the bunch and handed it to the old woman. She reached into a drawer from under her desk and grabbed onto a key. Reaching out, Shirou took the key as she handed it to him.

"Room 5." She spoke.

"Thank you." Shirou said, giving a light bow. He turned to his right where the rooms were and saw two sets of stairs, one leading down and the other leading up. Scratching the back of his head, Shirou turned back. He was about to ask the old woman which one he should take, when Erza grabbed his upper arm and led him up to the second floor.

He walked down the hall, only stopping once he noticed Earth Land's equivalent of the number five on a door to his left. He Extended the hand with the key inside, inserting it into the lock and twisting it. The key turned with a click as the door slid open. Shirou turned around, looking back to Erza. "Thanks, Erza."

Standing directly behind him, she remained silent. Her hair covered her eyes, so Shirou couldn't exactly see what was going on. "Erza?" Shirou inched closer. "Are you alri-"

Erza seemed to be inching closer too, that was until Shirou noticed that she showed no sign of stopping and tried to jump back. He was too late though, she had collided with his chest and the two fell to the ground.

"E-Erza?!" Shirou turned to his right. The two of them were at face level. Erza's arm wrapped around Shirou's waist like he was some sort of teddy bear. Looking at Erza's face, he could see that her eyes were closed. She had fallen asleep on the ground. Speaking of sleep, Shirou himself hadn't slept for quite some time. He somehow felt comfort in the cold steel of her armor.

Listening the the controlled pattern of Erza's breathing, Shirou's eyelids became heavy as everything went dark.

* * *

 **AN: Thank you for making it through another chapter. Yes, I know you have some complaints. Erza was a bit OOC and Shirou may have been too, but that's because I tried to make them cranky. (You know, because they were tired).**

 **Onto reviews now!**

 **Archleone called me out for saying that you guys have no imagination, but I would like to clarify that I was joking when I said that. I'm pretty sure I left an 'lol' nearby. But what I should have said was, use your imagination when it comes to the whole Shirou and Rin not being together thing, because it won't be explored too far in this story.**

 **He also had a question about whether or not Shirou will get stronger. The answer is yes. His circuit output will increase as he continues training, and some day (ten years according to Nasu) Shirou's circuit output will cap at a level where he can utilize UBW. But in this story, Shirou might not make it to that point. He'll probably increase the output by a few times before this story ends.**

 **Now Archleone brought up the point that he got tired from reinforcing some food for people, but I would like to say that Erza ordered every single cake on the menu and Shirou only used two circuits for that.**

 **There's also the thing he said that Shirou needs a fashion upgrade. (It was a lon- informative review). Don't worry. Shirou doesn't dress up like Archer, there will be a joke about that later. As for his outfit, I have something planned for that similar to what he suggested.**

 **And also, don't worry. I'm working on increasing the length of my chapters. They are way too short, so the pacing seems off. I will try my best to update regularly, and I won't be on break for more than a month if I ever go on one. Though, if I just randomly collapse and die, then don't get mad.  
**

 **Furukawa023 said something like, "Shirou's circuit capacity is low and he shouldn't be able to trace anything other than Kanshou and Bakuya." At least that's what I think he said. I hope I didn't misread it. But anyway, the way I see it is that yes, it is low, but he should be able to trace some stronger stuff, but it will eat a lot of prana. For example. I imagine him being able to trace something like Caladbolg II once, maybe twice if he sacrifices all of his reserves. He also has to improve his physical stamina as he tires out faster than he would like to. UPDATE: Okay, he didn't say that, just read his new review to clear this misunderstanding.  
**

 **People also tell me not to make Shirou OP. Don't worry, I'm going to try to make him fight more like Archer did in his lifetime. By focusing on his strengths rather than his weaknesses and improving what he was already good at. That way, he's strong, but unconventionally. Just like Archer is.**

 **And for the people saying that I hate Rin, I don't. This is just exclusive for this story. I had an idea and I wrote it down. I actually was writing another story where Shirou is in the FT universe, and he tries to get back to Rin. When this competition came up, I put that story on the shelf.**

 **Oooh... I can't help but feel that this was a bad chapter. Don't worry, my beta will come back and I'll update it then. I'll also change a few things in the chapter if you guys feel it needs to be. This is a story I plan on seeing through to the end. The end might actually be a long time. Like end of the FT manga long... maybe...**

 **UPDATE: Also, when I said ten years, I meant that it would take ten year to get to the point where he can use UBW. One of the requirements for being able to use UBW is setting the foundations, (Which takes ten years) but Shirou got his foundations from Archer in the UBW route. The other requirement is for Shirou to train his circuits and increase the output to be able to manifest it.**

 **When I say Shirou will be unconventionally strong, I know he would be considered strong in the FT universe, but he still has his crippling weakness of low grade magic circuits and exceptional physical stamina.**

 **Anyway, I'll see you guys in the next chapter (In the AN of course). Remember to respect your parents and brush your teeth twice a day.**

 **-Dal**


	6. Farewell, Emiya

**Sorry it took so long to post again. You guys probably thought that this story was abandoned, but it's not, so don't worry. I meant to finish writing it sooner, but a lot of stuff happened. Then I was going to post after the stuff cleared up, but then I caught a cold. Then I was going to finish writing, but I injured my wrist and had to cut the chapter short. But at least it's here!**

 **Don't get mad, but it's only a little over 3,900 words because I couldn't include a lot of stuff from my outline. I'll update it soon and add more content, maybe when I post the next chapter. But I can't think of much to add, so its like this for now.**

 **One thing you need to know as you read this chapter is that the cannon scenes are present day and everything else with Shirou in it is a flashback. I also want to apologize for including the cannon scenes, but I recommend that you read them anyway as they are altered a bit and they help with the build up.**

 **But yeah, sorry for the long wait. Especially since the chapter is so short.**

* * *

Team Natsu began their trek through Magnolia after a successful mission. Lucy had been moping around for some reason, Gray had been reliving the success and Natsu was cheerfully walking with Happy right above his head. It was Erza who was feeling out of it today. She had come along on the mission hoping to get her mind off of things, but every moment of her free time was spent thinking about recent events.

She had chased Shirou to a remote village in attempt to bring him back to Magnolia, but they were already too deep. The two of them ended up completing the job despite the fact that they hadn't accepted it. And at the end of it all, Shirou had overthrown a dark guild and saved a lot of people.

She remembered something the guild leader had said to Shirou. That the guild he took down was merely a branch of a larger guild. Erza had already accepted that there was nothing they could do about it, but Shirou appeared to be restless. He couldn't stand it knowing that there were more guilds out there, torturing innocent lives. He had quit his job as the guild chef and disappeared. Nobody knew where he went, but Erza had a decent idea of where he might be. Erza had been staring through the ground for a while and it seemed that Gray had noticed something was up.

"Is something wrong, Erza? You seem a little out of it today."

"Yes." Erza maintained her gaze at the floor. "I've just been thinking lately."

Gray nodded in response. Erza had been acting strange lately and he had a feeling that it had something to do with Shirou. He could understand though, he was rather surprised when he heard that Shirou was leaving. Though, he was even more surprised when he heard that Shirou took down a dark guild, even if they were pretty weak. It's not everyday that you hear about your chef being a total boss. (If you have a chef in the first place).

Lucy appeared to have something on her mind. Looking at the request paper for the job she took before lowering it, she turned and looked at the rest of the gang. Reading the atmosphere, she decided that it would be best not to disturb anyone. So she just went back to cuddling Plue. They were almost back, so it would be pointless to keep up any small talk.

As they grew nearer to their destination, they could hear people whispering to each other.

"Do they know?"

"Those poor wizards..."

"Good thing they weren't here when it happened."

The crowd of people were too suspicious for them not to worry. "What's with all the attention?" Gray asked. He decided to ignore the people and kept walking. Straight ahead, he saw the silhouette of the guild house, but something was wrong. His eyes widened once he made sense of the sight. Many large cylinder shaped objects protruded from broken areas of the building. Certain parts of the guild house were missing too.

The others soon noticed too. The shock lasted for a short while before they remembered their guild mates. With concern for their comrades, everyone rushed back to the guild.

* * *

 _3 weeks ago_

"There you guys are."

"Natsu, why are they hugging?"

"I guess Erza really liked his cake."

Erza sat up immediately, ready to fend off any intruders that may be in her room. On her feet in less than a second, she looked around the room. _'Where am I?'_ she thought silently. Then she remembered the events of the previous night. In her exhaustion, she had collapsed onto Shirou and dragged him to the floor with her. Erza's heart rate sped up. Looking down at her feet, she saw the red haired magus rubbing his eyes as he woke. She then turned her face to the sound of the voice from earlier.

Sitting at the window open window frame was none other than her guild mate and comrade in battle, Natsu Dragneel. Beside him was the all too familiar flying blue cat. Natsu cupped his hand over Happy's ear and moved closer to it. "Why do you think they were sleeping together?" Natsu whispered, not even removing his eyes from the two in question.

Happy's usual smile was replaced with a wide grin, one that looked weird on a cat. "She liiiiiiiiikes hi-" Before even finishing his sentence, the Happy was thrown across the room by an armor clad hand. "Aaah! Natsu!" Happy screamed before falling behind the large bed.

"Happy!" Natsu shouted dramatically. Concerned for his friend's safety, he dived for the bed.

"Natsu! This is animal abuse!" Happy cried, ignoring the fact that he remained uninjured.

Erza sighed, rubbing her forehead before turning back to the floor. Her face turned red for a brief moment as her brown eyes met two golden ones, reminding her of what had happened.

"By the way, why were you guys sleeping on the floor?" Asked another voice.

Turning to her side, Erza saw a shirtless black haired man leaning against the wall. She was about to tell him to put on some clothes, however, Natsu spoke first.

"Yeah, the bed is more comfy... but if you prefer the floor."

Gray clicked his tongue and gave Natsu an irritated stare. "That's not what a meant."

"N-" Erza coughed into her closed hand before crossing her arms. "No, it was a mere accident. We were both exhausted."

"Never mind that." Gray sighed. "Where were you two? Everyone was worried. Gramps even sent Natsu out to track your scent since you went missing."

Erza grew confused. They weren't gone for that long, it was just a few days. "We took up a request."

Gray shrugged. 'Wait, why'd she take the chef on a job for an entire week? Could she not be separated from his cooking for that long?' Gray's eyes widened. 'U-unless... Maybe Happy is right...'

"Well..."

Erza turned back to the ground. She saw the Auburn haired teen pushing himself off the ground. He wiped some dust off of his pant legs before heading for the door.

"Thanks for waking us up." Shirou's face became a very faint shade of red. "And..." Shirou turned to Erza. "I'm sorry for falling asleep on you."

Erza nodded, she was about to tell Shirou that is was her fault, but it looked like he had somewhere to go.

"I've got to go." Shirou opened the door and his figure disappeared behind it.

* * *

"It's fine." Makarov rubbed his beard in contemplation.

"Thank you. I'll get back to work." Shirou turned and walked over to the kitchen. Grabbing his apron, he threw the loop over his neck and reached back to tie the strings around his waist. Once he finished, he looked up, ready to wait for people to take orders.

Little did he know, as soon as he got back, everyone had lined up for his food.

* * *

Customer requests were fulfilled and Shirou was feeling quite accomplished. He wasn't even tired, mainly due to the fact that he and Erza apparently slept on the floor for over two days. Shirou nervously chuckled to himself. That wasn't a memory he'd like to keep fresh.

Walking over to the counter, he removed his hat and placed it down on the surface. Leaning on the cool stone of the surface, Shirou sighed. _'They only ordered sweets.'_ He thought. If possible, Shirou would have everyone eat more healthy foods. Then again, that may be too much to ask for in this guild. Regardless, Shirou swore that he would one day get them to eat proper meals.

Gazing over the counter, Shirou saw that Mirajane had left her post. _'She's a busy lady, I should help out.'_ Shirou left the kitchen and headed for the bar. As he got closer, he noticed a blue haired petite girl seated on one of the stools. Stepping up behind the bar, Shirou noticed the girl peeking up from her book. "Hello, I'm Emiya Shirou. Can I get you anything?"

"I'm Levy." She set her book down on the counter. "And I'll take a hot chocolate."

Shirou turned around and walked back into the kitchen. Turning to the counter, he grabbed his hat and placed it back on his head. He was still unable to get over how advanced this place was. They had pots, pans and even refrigerators (magic refrigerators).

Searching through the cabinets, he found some baking chocolate and sugar. He placed the two ingredients on the island and reached underneath for a pot and a whisk. He then opened the refrigerator to take out some milk.

Hot chocolate was very simple and easy to make, but it was still something an amateur would mess up on for the first few tries. Though, there was nothing to worry about, Shirou's precision and experience would allow him to get it just right.

* * *

"Retreat! Move it!" Erza stood in the midst of the chaos, guiding everyone out of the Phantom Lord territory.

"Are you a fool? Do you think I'd retreat now?" Gray raised his hands, clasping them together as ice flowed around them. "I'm here to get revenge for Levy's team!"

An armored hand grasped Grays own two hands. Erza stepped in close. "Please."

"Erza..." Gray muttered.

"All we can do now... Is pull back... The hole the master left is too great!

Gray lowered his stance. Surrendering to Erza's will, he escaped with the rest of his guild mates.

* * *

Levy raised the mug to her lips. Blowing into the hot chocolate to cool it down. Taking the rim of the mug into her mouth, she slurped the liquid inside. Her eyes widened and she was pleasantly surprised at how delicious the hot beverage tasted. Setting the cup by her book, Levy turned to look at Shirou. "This is delicious, Emiya."

Shirou smiled. "Thanks."

Levy lifted the mug again to take another sip before putting it back down. "You know, you're pretty famous around here." She said.

Shirou chuckled as he pulled out a towel and wiped down the counter. "It's my cooking that's famous."

Levy giggled and then glanced down at her book.

"Do you like to read?"

Levy turned back up to Shirou, a brief moment of confusion washed over her face. "Oh. Yeah, It's my favorite thing to do." The blue haired girl smiled. "What about you?" She asked.

"Me?" Shirou replied.

"Yeah, do you have anything you like doing?"

Shirou raised his hand and rubbed the back of his head. "Well..." He began with a hesitant voice. "It's not very interesting or useful like yours."

Levy tilted her head in curiosity. "It's okay, I don't mind."

Reassured, any sense of hesitance disappeared as he spilled the details of his life. "I like to cook and do chores. I also like fixing things."

Levy's eyes widened. She genuinely didn't expect such and answer from a guy like Shirou, except for the cooking part. At the thought of Shirou running around a kitchen, cooking and cleaning like a house husband, Levy let loose a chuckle, drawing Shirou's attention.

"What?" Shirou asked, wondering if he was a boring person.

"No. It's not like that. It's just that I've never heard of a guy who likes doing chores or cooking."

"Oh, well I guess It's not really a normal thing." Shirou turned away, looking behind Levy, he saw Mirajane smiling to him and making her way back to her post. Shirou smiled back. "I've got to go back to the kitchen. See you later."

Levy nodded and went back to her book.

Shirou walked into the kitchen. Putting on his hat, he stood behind the counter. Instead of the normal positive smile, his face became rather devoid of an expression. _'I'll have to leave soon.'_ Shirou stared blankly ahead, wondering if he made the right choice.

* * *

Erza strolled down the sunset dyed street, her lack of luggage told others that she wasn't on a job. She had been feeling a little anxious and decided to go out for awhile. The streets were rather empty, most of the citizens had retired to their homes for the day.

As she walked, her mind drifted toward the events of last week. She had been waiting for Shirou to finish up his work that day and once he did, something had caught his eye. 'There was something wrong with him.' Erza thought. When he gazed at the request board, he looked like he was about to have a heart attack. And even when they got back, he appeared to be restless.

There was also the fact that Shirou was a rather decent wizard. She hadn't expected him to overthrow a small dark guild. What's more is that he did it with swords. She didn't know where he got those swords, but she could tell that they were very well crafted. He was even a pretty good swordsman from what little that she saw of him. Honestly, the two of them had more in common than she had realized.

Smiling to herself, Erza turned the corner, drawing closer to one of her favorite shops. It was a magic weapon store in which she would buy some rather decent weapons for her armory. Nothing overpowering, but she could use more weapons to use on weaker foes.

Once she got closer, she noticed a familiar figure standing outside of the store, staring through the window. "Emiya?" She questioned.

The red haired boy shifted his attention upon hearing his own name. "Hey, Erza." He spoke, smiling at the scarlet knight.

Stepping in closer, Erza looked through the window, catching sight of the object Shirou was gazing at moments ago. A beautiful sword on display, decorated with Gold, accented with Silver and Royal Blue colors. "It's beautiful." Though, it was rather pricey.

Shirou nodded. "It is... but..." The long pause drew Erza's attention away from the sword. "It's mainly for decoration, it isn't really a strong sword."

Erza looked back to the sword, confusion painted on her face. It was clearly advertised as an instrument for battle, how could he pick up such detail? _'He has an eye for swords.'_ Erza cleared her thoughts, remembering the question she wanted to ask when she saw the weapon. "Are you thinking about buying it?"

Shirou shook his head. "No." His gazed locked onto the sword, nostalgia infiltrated the air around them. He seemed to be staring straight through the weapon rather than at it. A smile found its way onto his face.

"It just reminded me of a friend."

* * *

Shirou stood at the bar, staring straight at the small old man on the counter. "I'm sorry to say that I'm resigning." He said, his expression unchanged, making it impossible to determine what emotion he was feeling.

"That's fine, but I must ask where you'll be heading after this, Emiya."

Shirou didn't answer. After a few moments of silence, Makarov spoke again, already knowing where Shirou was headed. "Have you considered joining the guild?"

Shirou's expression turned into a surprised one. He probably didn't think that he would be offered a place here. "I don't think I'd be a good addition to this place." He smiled shyly.

Makarov stared at Shirou for several moments. Sighing, he put away his mug and stood up on the counter. "Alright then..." He spoke solemnly, extending his arm and opening his hand. "Farewell, Emiya."

Shirou took Makarov's hand before shaking it. Turning around, Shirou began walking through the halls. The stares he received were ones of confusion and worry. Shirou sighed, trying his best not to start feeling bad for everyone. As he reached the door, he heard chairs sliding back against the wooden floor.

Turning around, Shirou tried his best to hold back his surprise at the sight. He saw many of the guild members standing, waving to him as he walked off. Shirou smiled brightly, he only spent four and a half weeks serving these people, but that was enough for them to consider him a friend. Shirou waved back before turning back to the large Red doors.

As he walked through the large red doors, he could hear a few people shouting their goodbyes to him. He chuckled as he heard not even one of them use his first name.

* * *

 _Present day_

"I can't believe we had to retreat!"

"We couldn't even get revenge for Levy's team!"

"This is their base, we just have to bring more firepower next time."

Lucy sighed. Everyone was either panicking or brooding. Though, she was guilty of the latter. She didn't like the way things were right now. She didn't like seeing her friends panicking. looks of despair didn't suit them nearly as much as a smile did.

Natsu looked down, his gaze directed at Lucy. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that... Just..." Lucy grabbed her legs, pulling them up onto the barrel she sat on. "I'm sorry..."

Elfman stood behind Gray, crossing his arms. "Well, It's the fate of the rich heiress' to get chased. And it's the men who protect them!"

Gray turned around, glaring at Elfman. "Don't say things like that!"

From the side, Happy stepped in, joining his friends. "But I'm really surprised, Lucy. Why did you keep it from us?"

"I'm really sorry, I wasn't trying to hide anything." Lucy replied. "I didn't want to talk about it once I ran away. It's just that, for a full year, he never showed any interest in his runaway daughter. And now he wants me back? My father went to such terrible lengths to ge me back. He's the worst!... But if you think about it, it's my fault for running away, isn't it?"

"No it's not." Elfman began. "Your father's the bad guy here!"

Gray elbowed the white haired wizard in the rib cage. "You idiot!"

"I mean, Phantom!"

Lucy looked down, avoiding eye contact with everyone. "It's my fault everyone's like this. If I went home, it would solve everything, right?"

"I wonder about that." Natsu pushed himself off of the wall, catching Lucy's attention. "But 'rich heiress' doesn't strike the right tone. Laughing in this dirty old beer hall, eating cake, making a ruckus while on some adventure... That's the Lucy I know."

Lucy shifted her gaze, staring into empty space, she pondered Natsu's words.

"You said you wanted to stay here, right? What's the point of returning to someplace you don't wanna go? You're Lucy of Fairy Tail," Natsu lifted his arm and raised his thumb, pointing to the area behind. "This is your home to return to."

Tears began welling up in Lucy's eyes, growing to large beads before trickling down her face.

"Don't cry, sheesh... you're stronger than that." Said Gray.

"Tears are a man's weakness."

Everyone settled down after that. Gray and Elfman sat down near some crates by Lucy and Natsu. Gray felt a little hungry and out of habit, almost got up to order some food. Remembering the current situation of the guild, he chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Natsu asked, seeming a little hostile.

"I was just thinking about how nice it would be if Emiya were here." Gray replied.

Natsu shrugged, seeming satisfied with the answer. "He did make a mean cheesecake."

Nobody said anything, but at the thought of Shirou's cooking, everyone's mouths began watering.

"I was surprised though." Gray began. "To think the guy who cooks our meals would also take down a dark guild on his own."

"He was a man!" Elfman added.

"Ah! You guys are making me hungry!" Lucy shouted, her mood seemed to have brightened up since Natsu's pep talk. "If I see Emiya again, I'll make sure to order something healthier than cake." Lucy remembered seeing the look on the poor guy's face every time someone ordered unhealthy foods.

Everyone seemed confused at the statement, but a certain flying blue cat had made sense of it in his own way. "Yeah, it wouldn't hurt to lose some weight, Lucy." The blue cat flew closer to Lucy's face, smiling innocently while knowing full well what he had said. However, what he didn't expect was for Lucy's hands to grab his cheeks and begin stretching out his face. "Ah! Lucy, it hurts! Natsu, help me!"

"Sorry, pal." Natsu started. "You're on your own there."

Everyone seemed surprisingly cheerful for the situation, hanging out with each other took their minds off of things. No matter how much Phantom Lord tormented them, they could never take away their Fairy Tail spirit.

All of the sudden, the room began to shake. A few rocks fell from the ceiling, drawing everyone's attention. As the shaking grew stronger, more dust and rubble fell. It was then that everyone knew something was up.

"What's going on?" Natsu asked.

"The entire room is shaking!"

The Back door flew open, revealing a panicked Al. "Outside!"

* * *

Erza ran out as fast as she could. She placed her priority on finding the source of the discord and ran out of the shower in a bath towel. Once she came to a halt, she realized why everyone was panicking. A giant white castle was surfing through the ocean on metallic spider legs, making its way towards the guild house. She was certainly glad that Emiya wasn't here for this. It wouldn't be right to drag him into their personal war.

"W-what are we going to do?"

Erza shivered where she stood, and not because she was near the ocean in a bath towel. "I didn't predict this..." Her eyes were wide and her mouth agape. "This is how they attack us?"

The white castle shifted before falling flat into the water, causing massive waves. As it set completely, a loud voice could be heard from the structure. "The magic focusing cannon, Jupiter... Ready..." An overwhelming amount of magic power emanated from the castle as part of its wall lowered. A giant cannon barrel extended outward from the castle. (If the situation weren't so dire, someone would have made an innuendo about the thing.) A dark colored orb of magical energy collected at the end and slowly began to grow. "Eliminate them!"

"This is bad! Everyone, take cover!" Erza shouted before running straight ahead, towards the danger. As she ran, a blinding golden color emanated from her body. Her towel disappeared and in its place was a bulky, jagged, silver armor with two large shields attached to her forearms.

"She requipped?"

"H-hey!"

"I won't let you touch the guild!" Erza shouted.

"It's the Adamantine Armor!"

"She doesn't intend to actually block it, does she?"

"I don't care how much crazy defense power that armor gives you!"

"Don't do it, Erza! You'll die!"

Erza readied her stance, preparing for the blast. "Get down!"

Natsu stepped forward, attempting to reach Erza before the cannon fired. "Erza!" He shouted. From behind, Gray wrapped his arms around Natsu, securing him in place.

"Natsu! All we can do is believe in her!"

Everyone stood wide eyed. The cannon was about to go off in another second, but it felt more like hours as the fear sank in, paralyzing them.

The dark orb at the end of the cannon grew to a size equal to the castle. A shock wave erupted as a beam of dark magical power shot forward, the force of the blast parting the water underneath.

Erza prepared herself, standing ready to take the blast for her friends. As the beam neared, she clashed her shields together. Erza had to take this blast, if she didn't, all of her friends along with her home would be obliterated. And then everything turned white. Silence surrounded the area despite the chaos. She waited, and waited for the impact, but it never came. She could have sworn that it was about to hit. Looking up from her shields, Erza saw a sight that made her drop them all together.

A beautiful violet colored flower stood tall in front of Erza, five petals of energy taking the force of the cannon blast.

And then she heard footsteps from behind, making its way closer. She could hear a familiar voice saying something... a name.

"Rho Aias."

* * *

 **Yeah, this ending would have been epic if Shirou weren't around for the entire chapter. (And if the chapter was longer.)**

 **I hate to rely on cannon events and I also hate the way this chapter came out, but there wasn't much I could do about it with my lack of writing skill.**

 **I know you guys are going to get annoyed at the inclusion of a cannon arc, but there will be some variation. I will also do the same with The Battle of Fairy Tail arc, but that one will have even more change to it. Then after that is where things really start to switch up.**

 **Anyway, the next chapter will hopefully be longer. It will also be a prequel chapter showing where Shirou was while the whole Phantom Lord thing was going on.**

 **Now then, let's address some of those saucy reviews.**

* * *

 **Dal: First off, many reviews speak of this Gaia resisting Shirou's projection thing, and others say don't listen because it's not cannon. I want to see sources for both of those, it's really confusing and I can't find any info on it anywhere.**

 **I'd also like to know if Shirou can sniff prana or if that's fannon. I know his cooking skills aren't fannon like people say. After all, Shirou has his own cooking show now.**

* * *

 **AmethystPone said:** **Just so you know...Shirou have no problem with killing if the situation calls for it (and that makes a lot of differences since killing is easier than disabling)...And a variety of other...things. He is NOT a normal modern person who was raised in Japan...His perception is somewhat alien...That is the reason he has UBW in the first place.**

 **Dal: I know, I address this in a review down there... my keyboard doesn't have a down arrow, so imagine that I pointed down when I said that.**

 **AmethystPone: And making Shirou OP...It's really questionable what you meant by OP, there are plenty of ways one can be OP. And being OP doesn't automatically mean the character sucks. It just made the character harder to write.**

 **Dal: Definitely, but I want Shirou's power levels to be accurate. Like how it would be for him to have just dropped into the FT world.**

 **AmethystPone: As for that 10 years thing...You forgot that UBW route has Shirou even more influenced by Archer EMIYA. That should reduce the time required for Shirou to grow into power...or at least, in skill. Well, the skill would definitely be there for sure and refined even further. Iffy on power, though...**

 **Dal: Yes, I know. Part of UBW is setting the foundations and the other part is training your circuits to be able to manifest it. In the UBW route, Shirou inherits Archer's foundations and thus had UBW but needs to train to use it. As for skills, yes, I'll make that clear in the later chapters. If I remember right, Shirou fought Archer long enough to gain enough experience which allowed him to have an underdeveloped Eye of the Mind (True). And he also inherits a lot of Archers skills too, which is how he grew in sword play. (But you already pointed that out).  
**

 **Thanks for your feedback, it helps clear some confusion and your suggestions are helpful.**

* * *

 **BrawlBroMario said:** **Really good story, the chapters got longer, and the writing has improved a lot, adding attention to details in your scenes really makes them stand out.**

 **Dal: Well dang, now I feel guilty about this chapter. Thanks though.**

* * *

 **EternalKing said: Shirou not willing to kill anyone is total misconception btw. Part of the way he analyzes situations includes threatening to kill others or acknowledging that he needs to kill them. Shinji and Illya obviously don't get threatened because the former was his friend and the other looks like a child but he does hypothesize Rin and most of the servants' deaths by his hand.**

 **Dal: Yes, but in this story, Shirou saw that he was capable of taking down everyone without using lethal force and did so. If I remember right, Shirou also didn't like unnecessary killing.**

* * *

 **star said:** **I do not particularly like fairy tail crossovers since the slapstick humor of the anime is lost in writing...also most crossovers are just as you mentioned...fairy tail extra guy.**

 **Dal: My story might be "Fairy Tail: extra guy for a little bit every now and then."**

star: I am liking this story as it endeavors to try and balance the shenanigans of early fairy tail with the merciless reality of the holy grail war...

 **Dal: Well thanks for the added pressure.**

 **star:** ** **though... shooting arrows to the head and only making people go unconscious?****

 ** **Dal: Those arrows were blunt, so they're fine... right?****

* * *

 **Laxard said:** **Hm, good quality, especially for The Pit. Please note that there is really no lines of light when reinforcement is used, it's just visualization for us.**

 **Dal: I also received mixed answer when I asked about the reinforcement lines, so I just drew lots with that one. Thanks for the compliment.**

* * *

 **FireFox614 said:** **I'm liking this so far, hope it continues to improve as we go along. Though I do feel as though you could add a little more to be their thought processes, because there needs to be more in a scene than just action or dialogue and seeing their thoughts or inner monologues helps add to that, as well as to help flesh out their character more. Even if we do know Shirou and Erza it would help for them to start understanding each other from how they act or react to things.**

 **Dal: Agreed, I tried doing that with this chapter, but then I forgot and failed. Next time!**

FireFox614: I'm really hoping that as this story goes on and Shirou practices Tracing more, little bits of his appearance will start to have small changes, to show how eventually, even if he doesn't want to; one day, he'll look like Archer.

 **Dal: You must have some powers, because you predicted the future of this story. (Even though everyone keeps doing that).**

FireFox614: Also I'm wondering if everyone he's introduced to realizes that Emiya is his last name, because it seems like they all currently address him as though Emiya is his first name.

 **Dal: Oh no! Looks like my time is up! Enough of reviews, bye guys!**

* * *

 **I know this chapter is disappointing, especially since a lot of the word count is author notes, leaving very little story behind. I'll try harder for the next chapter.**

 **Please continue to deliver feedback and suggestions, they are very helpful to the story.**

 **Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone for reading this nonsense.**

 **Remember to take your vitamins and sleep eight hours a night.**

 **-Dal**


	7. The Light That Clears Away The Darkness

**lol, you guys probably didn't expect an update so soon. You were probably like "Oh, Dal updated. What?! The chapter is only 4k words?! Oh well, I'll just wait for an entire year for the next chapter..." But ah hah! I'm not Warframe, I update on a regular basis!... Okay, that's a lie. I actually just felt like writing this one, so I did. Some of you will hate it, some won't, but oh well.**

 **Also, I have to thank FireFox614 for his honest review. I thought I was going crazy because the last chapter was horrible, but it only got positive reviews. I wasn't able to redo the last chapter in the small amount of time I had, but this chapter might be better and more well thought out, so here you all go.**

* * *

The wall of violet caught the blast, shielding the people and the town behind it. As the beam continued its course, the first barrier in front of the flower began to crack, causing Erza to panic for a moment. Then it shattered. The second barrier soon followed, and then the third. As cracks and fractures spread throughout the fourth layer, Erza raised her shields once more, bracing for impact, but the beam had stopped before the flower cracked.

The flower shined brightly before vanishing in front of everyone. People could be heard cheering from behind, thanking their hero.

"It's Emiya!"

"He's come back!"

"He saved us with cake magic!"

Erza turned around, catching sight of the one who had saved them. "Emiya!"

There, Shirou stood with his arm extended. His sleeve was torn up and his arm bloodied. His clothes blotched with Red and his breathing was heavy. Blood trickled from his arm as he lowered it to his side.

Erza ran over to Shirou's side. Concern filled Erza's eyes as she scanned Shirou's wounded body. "Emiya, what happened to you?" She asked.

Shirou looked up, meeting Erza's worried gaze. "Don't worry about me." Looking behind Erza, Shirou spotted the giant spider-like construct preparing for another blast. "That thing over there should be our focus."

Erza hesitantly agreed. Turning around, she requipped back into her standard armor. Preparing to attack the Phantom Lord castle, Erza was about to give the command. Then, flying out of the castle were countless shadows. Leaving trails of darkness in their wake, the creatures headed for the Fairy Tail Guild, their flight pattern completely random.

"What are those?" Shirou asked from behind.

"That's Jose's magic, Shade." Erza replied. "It allows him to create minions out of shadows to do his bidding."

"He's trying to stall us." Shirou spoke. "Buying time for the next blast."

Everyone grew silent over Shirou's words. Dreading the thought of another blast, everyone began to feel helpless.

"Let me at it."

Everyone turned back to the voice. Natsu Dragneel stood in the center of the group. "I only need fifteen minutes." He began. "Let me have a go! I'll destroy that thing!"

Erza nodded. "Go, Natsu!"

"Happy!" Natsu began running to the edge of the cliff.

"Aye, sir!" Happy flew, catching Natsu once he jumped.

"We're going too!" Yelled Gray. "Come on, Elfman!"

Elfman followed Gray as the he jumped off the cliff. Freezing the water, Gray made a bridge to the Castle.

Erza turned around, catching sight of Shirou stepping in closer. His arms outstretched, grasping something that had yet to exist. And then, blue light began crackling under his palms like electricity. The light grew brighter as it formed into the shape of a large recurve bow. In his other hand, the light became a large steel arrow.

'Requip?' Erza thought. 'He has magic like mine?'

Apparently others had the same thoughts as Erza. People could be heard questioning the nature of Shirou's magic.

Erza shook her head, clearing away the unimportant thoughts. Even if Shirou had become an interesting topic, there was a dire situation at hand. Looking back at Shirou, Erza couldn't help but feel concern for him. He was quite strong, but he was wounded and she didn't like the thought of a wounded man fighting her own battles. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Erza voiced her concern. "Emiya, I won't allow you to fight in your condition!"

Shirou shook his head. "It's not that bad. Don't worry about it, Erza." Side stepping Erza, Shirou walked over to the cliff's edge.

Nocking the arrow into his bow, Shirou surprised Erza with the volume of his voice. "Natsu!" Shirou shouted. "I'll provide cover for you!" Shirou turned his body. Spreading his legs and straightening his back, he drew the bowstring to its fullest before releasing it, causing the arrow to fly.

Expecting the arrow to fall short due to the range, Erza's expression changed to a surprised one as the arrow sped through the air, whistling as it pierced a shadow creature straight through the head. Shirou's skill with the bow as well as the feats it performed had caused Erza to reevaluate her opinion of him. He was definitely stronger than she thought. It was then Shirou performed his most outrageous feat.

He had made another arrow and shot it. And then another one, and another one. Not only was he making arrows, or pulling them from somewhere, but he was firing them at a pace faster than most archers could.

"No way!"

"That's too fast!"

"Go, Emiya!"

Erza turned back to the shadow creatures. Even as Shirou eliminated a vast amount of them, there were still many of them on the way. "Everybody, focus!" Erza shouted. "The battle isn't over yet!" One shadow creature had already made it only to be slashed into nothingness by Erza.

Everyone stopped their cheering, instead, preparing for battle.

Erza dashed over to Shirou's side, slashing at another creature that attempted to harm him. "Emiya, I'll be going too." Seeing Shirou nod, Erza continued. "Will you be alright here?"

"Don't worry, Erza." Shirou spoke. "I'll be fine."

Erza nodded, but she still seemed a little worried.

Noticing Erza's concern, a tan skinned woman dressed in a blue bikini top and brown cargo pants stepped in, standing at Shirou's side. "Go on, Erza." She spoke, gold shimmering cards in hand. "We've got him covered." A shadow creature flew in close, only to be blown up by one of the throwing cards.

"Thank you, Cana." Erza turned around, running to the edge of the cliff.

Phantom Lord has a lot to answer for.

* * *

Muscles around his body were torn. The bones on his arm fractured. Even with reinforcement, it hurt to draw his bow. His arm would make a cracking noise every time he let go of the string. Despite the many compliments he had received, he was extremely sluggish compared to how he would have been uninjured.

Shirou was beginning to feel tired. He had used up a little over a third of his prana projecting Rho Aias, not to mention what he fed it to increase its defenses. The fact that he was tracing and shooting an arrow every second and a half wasn't helping the strain on his circuits.

As Shirou pivoted his arm to pull the bowstring back, he heard a bone chilling crunch. Like breaking several sticks of celery at once, no, more like wood. But what was worse was the source of the noise, inside of his own body. He could feel objects protruding from his body, a few bone shards sticking out from his skin.

The horrible noise didn't go unnoticed by those around him. Cana had turned to Shirou with a look confusion on her face. She wasn't sure if she had imagined the noise, so she listened for it to happen once more. Once she heard it again, her gaze turned into a worried one. "Are you alright?" She asked. "What's that noise?"

"It's nothing." Shirou spoke. "Don't worry about it."

Cana nodded, silently wondering what was going on with him.

Shirou shot his last arrow. It pierced the shade creature under the hood and between the eyes, causing it to disintegrate. 'I'll have to conserve prana.' Shirou thought. He raised his left arm, the bow in his hand fading in motes of blue light. Reaching out with empty hands, Shirou grasped the imaginary hilts. "Trace..." Blue light crackled within his palms, forming the shape of two Chinese Falchions. "...On!"

Shirou felt a few gazes directed at him. Or rather, gazes directed at the married blades he held in his hands. Kanshou, a black falchion with a tortoise shell pattern and Bakuya, a white falchion with a cloudy wave pattern. The craftsmanship of the blades were too beautiful not to receive stares.

Taking up his unique stance, Shirou waited for the creatures to attack him. One came flying in from the left flank. In response, he rolled to the side, spinning around to slash the shade with the momentum he gained. The shadow creature faded into particles of darkness, dispersing like a shadow. Turning around, Shirou noticed another creature headed straight for him. It flew straight, attempting to speed through Shirou and sap his strength away. Shirou waited for the thing to get close, almost too close, before jumping over it. He spun in the air, slashing the creature's back with the momentum.

Shirou took note on the feeling these creatures gave off. It was like how he could sense prana, but this was something else. He had 'smelled' a specific scent on everyone he met here, one he had originally assumed to be prana, but now he knew it was different. The shades had a stronger, more concentrated scent. Despite that, everyone seemed to always be leaking a specific smell. It was stronger on some, and weaker on others. Erza was one of the stronger ones.

Shirou pushed himself out of his thoughts, deciding to investigate the phenomenon later as a shade came close. From behind, the creature attempted to fly through Shirou only for him to crouch underneath and stab it in the chest.

"Not too bad."

Shirou turned around. Cana, while defending herself, had caught a glimpse of Shirou from the corner of her eyes.

"It looks like Erza will have some competition." Cana complimented. "Then again, I know nothing about swords." Cana went back to fighting, trying her best to ignore the grinding noise from Shirou's body.

Shirou normally would have interacted with Cana in some way, but he was still in the middle of cutting down shadow creatures and couldn't spare the time.

Two more creatures came in, one behind the other, closing the distance on Shirou fast. He swung Bakuya at the first creature, as it faded, he held the falchion in place to bait the other creature. Though, it seemed that the shades were incapable of higher thought and didn't need to be baited. They would just charge straight at anyone in their sights. As the next shade came close, Shirou sliced a path through its distorted body with Kanshou.

"Agh!"

Shirou heard a pained shout coming from within the group of Fairy Tail Wizards. Immediately, he ran straight for the person who shouted. Swerving around individuals, Shirou found one of the middle aged men who he met several weeks ago. 'Wakaba' was his name. He was drinking with Macao when the two told Shirou where he could find a map. "Are you alright?" Shirou asked, crouching down an grabbing the man's arm. Shirou stood up, forcing him onto his legs.

"Be careful, they can drain you with a touch!" Wakaba shouted.

"That's right!" The loud voice from the castle spoke. "Phantom soldiers that will drain your life force with just a touch, that is shade!"

Shirou clicked his tongue. This was more troubling than he had originally thought.

"So you just don't touch 'em, right?" Al shouted from the middle of the group.

"This is where we can really shine!" Bisca stepped back to back with Al.

"Guns magic!" Al raised his arm in the air, emptying his hand cannon and replacing the empty canister with a special one. "Sunlight shot!" Al squeezed the trigger, causing the muzzle to light up. The hand cannon shot a ball of compressed light out at the army of shades. The ball exploded in a flurry of light, removing the cloaks from the shades and completely obliterating them with the bright light. "Bisca, now!"

"Of course!" Bisca held her arm above her head, a green magic circle glowed brightly over her open hand. "Requip!" A Thompson sub machine gun fell from the circle and into her open right hand. She had apparently summoned one for her left hand to as she was dual wielding.

' _Requip? Erza's magic?_ ' Shirou thought to himself. ' _I guess that's a pretty common magic here._ ' Shirou shrugged. The shades all around bursting into nothingness as Bisca and Al shot them down.

 _'He damaged them with light...'_ Shirou thought.

After all of the creatures disappeared, everyone began cheering for Al and Bisca.

Shirou stopped, something was wrong with the situation. ' _That feeling is still here..._!' Shirou turned around, facing the tan skinned woman with a look of urgency. "Look out!" He reinforced his legs to their utmost and pushed off the ground, causing it to dip. Launching through the air at high speeds, Shirou made it to Cana, who flinched at his sudden aggression. He threw Kanshou over her shoulder, wasting no time watching the blade bury itself into the creature's head, Shirou turned and slashed at another shade with Bakuya.

"What was..." Cana muttered. It took a few moments for things to register, but when the shade creatures began appearing again, this time faster, she caught on. Turning, Cana tapped Shirou's arm with the back of her hand. "I owe you one." Turning back around, Cana came face to face with a shade. She tried stepping back, but she was too slow. At this rate, the thing was going to catch up to her.

And then, a Black falchion with a red hexagonal tortoise pattern cleaved through the creature's head. The blade came in from the side, turned in the air, and went flying back to a space behind Cana, back into Shirou's hand.

Cana sighed. She might have to buy Emiya Shirou a drink when all of this was over.

* * *

Erza ran through the long stone halls of the castle. The earthquake moments ago telling her that Natsu succeeded in destroying the Jupiter cannon. However, the fact that the castle had shifted once more and began moving for a while gave Erza a bad feeling.

Even so, she had an important task at hand. She could sense a strong magic power up ahead. Running through the hall, Erza spotted a large wooden door. Jumping into the air, she extended a leg and kicked the door down. The force of her kick was so strong, that the hinges were torn off and the two doors were blown away.

It was a grand hall. The stone walls at the sides held many pillars and doors in between. A narrow red carpet lay on the ground in front of Erza, extending up to the stairs ahead. Following the trail of magic power, Erza ran ahead.

As she narrowed in on the center of the room, Erza could feel something strange. The feeling of being stalked. Her every instinct screamed at her to move out of the way. Listening to the instincts that saved her time and time again, she jumped back, doing a flip in the air and landing on her feet in a crouched position. Her intuition was correct, and she was even more so to follow it.

In the center of the room where she once stood, she saw him. Aria, the one who sapped away Makarov's magic power, stood over a large crater in the room. His head was low and his large coat was flowing despite the lack of wind. "It matters not." Aria lifted his head, revealing a white blindfold, unable to contain the tears falling from underneath it. "The Queen of Fairies will fall today." Extending his arm, Aria opened his hand and pointed it at Erza. A purple magic circle formed at the open palm of his hand.

Erza's instincts once more told her to move, but it was too late. As she stepped back, a small, yet powerful and invisible carpet bomb sped over her. Erza raised her arms, blocking as much of the attack as she could. She still felt the blast. It was powerful, but Aria would have to do more than that if he wanted to defeat Erza.

Holding out her arm, Erza opened her hand. A golden light shimmered and the shape of her signature sword formed from it. Erza pushed off the ground, launching herself at Aria with her sword arm raised. As she got closer, she slashed down with the sword. Erza's eyes widened as Aria disappeared right before her eyes. ' _He vanished?!_ ' Erza stood still, staring at the spot Aria was at moments ago.

Then, without warning, Erza turned around and slashed at the presence behind her.

"Augh!" Aria screamed, holding a hand to his wound. "How did you know?"

Erza glared at the now wounded Aria, showing no sympathy for him, she raised her sword. "After what you did to the master, it is quite obvious that you are a gutless coward."

"Is that your opinion of me? How sorrowful." Aria's blindfold began streaming water. Then, he vanished again.

Erza looked left, then right, debating her next move. When she felt a gust of wind at her side, she dashed forward, spinning and slicing with her blade. Aria had managed to dodge the blade, but the wind pressure still affected him, pushing him back.

Aria extended his arm once more, opening his palm towards Erza.

Erza stepped back, her form taking on a golden glow. "Requip!" She shouted. The golden light appearing to reform the shape of her armor in an instant. Once the light dimmed, she could be seen wearing a new armor. Cheetah fur could be seen on the breastplate, left arm, and left knee, allowing one to guess what this armor was for. She wore purple leggings and purple sleeves the left sleeve on her arm and leg concealed with the cheetah fur. A brown belt held a light green flaud in place over her dark, tight shorts. In this armor, Erza stayed crouched, preparing to run.

As the loud sound of Aria's carpet bombs drew closer, Erza pounced, side stepping the attack entirely and running straight for Aria. Her speed was unrivaled in this armor, allowing her to move faster than Aria could track her. With her dual swords, Erza delivered a flurry of attacks at blinding speeds, each catching Aria off guard.

"Gah!" Aria grunted in pain as each precise attack delivered fatal blows.

Erza was once more surrounded by a golden light, her armor disappearing in a flash, replaced by a new one. Her Flight armor was replaced by a beautiful silver armor. It had two sets of wings made of strange shaped metallic feathers. Her breastplate was rather small, made of metal shapes overlapping each other with a flower in the center. She wore dark steel greeves with feathers and long gauntlets of the same color. At the top of her white dress were numerous shields layered side by side. With two long swords in hand, Erza extended her wings and blasted through the air.

Erza raised both of her swords, dashing at Aria and slashing at him as she passed. When Aria thought the attack was over, countless swords flew into him, increasing the number of attacks. "Blumenblatt!" Erza shouted, completing her attack.

Aria was thrown back by the many attacks, coughing as he hit the ground.

"Someone like you should have never been able to defeat the master." Said Erza. Turning away, she requipped back into her Heart Kreuz armor.

Hearing footsteps coming her way, Erza stiffened, but then relaxed after seeing who it was. "Gray! Everyone!" She shouted in recognition. Gray, Natsu, Elfman and Mirajane ran into the center of the room.

"Erza," Gray began. "You defeated Aria?"

Erza nodded.

"It looks like the element four is finished." Said Mirajane. "That means Abyss Break has stopped!"

Everyone began cheering. If they stopped Abyss Break, that meant they saved their guild and all of Magnolia.

"Everyone, focus!" Erza shouted. "Jose is still standing, the threat is at large."

Natsu slammed his fist into his open hand, causing flames to ignite over them. "Then let's kick his-"

"Attention all of you from Fairy Tail." A loud voice echoed through the halls. "Please listen carefully to this voice.

"What's this?" Asked Gray.

"That's Jose!" Shouted Elfman.

The Fairy Tail wizards were filled with rage, rage that only strengthened when they heard the screaming.

"That's Lucy's voice!" Cried Mirajane.

Once the screaming stopped, the voice of Jose spoke again. "We have accomplished one of our objectives, which means that we have only one goal, wipe all of you off the face of the earth, you worthless brats."

"Damn him!" Natsu growled.

"Natsu," Erza spoke. "Can you get Lucy?"

Nastu nodded, appearing to be conflicted. Turning, Natsu ran out the door and in the direction of where he could smell the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Everyone," Erza stepped forward, facing the direction ahead. "I'm going to fight Jose."

"Not without us, you aren't." Said Gray.

"You can't, it's too dangerous." Erza protested.

"Don't underestimate us, Erza!" Elfman shouted. "We can fight too!"

"He messed with all of us, not just you! I'm not going anywhere!" Gray added.

Erza sighed, then nodded. "Alright." Turning, Erza began walking. "Just be careful."

Gray smirked. "Who do you think we are?"

* * *

Cana had to hold Shirou back twice now. The first time was when Mirajane was getting crushed between the fingers of the giant mech castle, and the other being when he heard Lucy's cries of pain. She had assured him that the other members of Fairy Tail would do something about it, but that wasn't enough. She had to remind Shirou that Al and Bisca were running low on magic power and they would need him even more once they went out of commission.

Shirou had reluctantly agreed, going back to fighting the shade creatures. His face took up a grim expression, one that was wiped away immediately after he saw Elfman saving his sister, but returned after hearing Lucy.

Shirou, during this battle had been reminded of what Archer had taught him. ' _Saving one means forsaking the other. If you choose to save one life, another will die._ ' Gritting his teeth, Shirou threw Kanshou and Bakuya.

The blades cleaved through numerous shades like they were butter before returning to him, earning him a thanks from the wizards he had saved. Turning away, Shirou cut through shade after shade, saving the same people from countless close encounters. Shirou wondered when this would end. If this was Jose's magic, then the battle would most likely end once he had been defeated.

But from what he was told, Jose was a powerful wizard whose strength could be compared to Makarov's. Shirou, at hearing of Makarov's condition had little faith in Fairy Tail. He analyzed the situation, weighing odds only to find that he didn't like them.

If they lost this battle, Phantom Lord would slaughter Shirou's friends without mercy. Fairy Tail didn't like to kill, but If worse came to worse, Shirou was prepared to unleash the strongest blades in his arsenal against Jose and his guild. Even if it meant risking death, Shirou would do everything he could to protect his friends.

Shirou dodged a shade attack from behind, swinging Kanshou at the creature in return for its aggression. Another shade in sight, Shirou dashed to it, cleaving through it with his famous 'X' slash with both blades.

After hours of endless onslaught, the shades began acting strangely. They all stood in place, not moving. This warranted several reactions from everybody. Some saw them as free targets, others saw it as something to be cautious of. Shirou belonged to the latter. Unmoving for fear of what they might do next, after all, no one had seen what they could really do.

Then, the creatures started flying. Flying away from everyone and into the sky, swirling in the air until they met each other like a vortex. They shades that met in the air began to clump together, forming a giant sphere of darkness. The thing looked like a growing black hole, ready to suck everyone into a vacuum of nothingness.

The orb grew to a size equal to the guild house in front of it. Two Red eyes gleamed through raven colored sphere. Six tentacles came out from the sides and grew until it became arms with large hands. The entire thing would have been comical in not for what happened next.

The giant jelly fish-like shade hovered over the wrecked Fairy Tail guild house. Two of the arms pulled back before flying into what remained of the guild house. It repeated this process while alternating arms. Surprisingly, the already damaged structure held up quite well.

Everyone had been shocked. Staring at the place they grew up in as it was currently being destroyed wasn't something that one could just get over. Everyone stared wide eyed, waiting for the shock to wear off, and when it did, they went ballistic.

Many had tried running over to the guild house in a naive attempt to shield it, only to be held back by fellow guild members. Cana was one of those people. She had tried charging in and Macao had to do his best to keep her from doing just that.

"Our guild!" She cried, thrashing around in Macao's grasp. "They're destroying our guild! Our home!..."

Shirou's heart sank at the sight of countless tears, streaking down the faces of once cheerful people. ' _I simply wished for an outcome where no one would cry_ '. What Shirou Emiya saw right now was the exact opposite of the world he dreamt of. An insult to the ideal chased by no one. Their home was being destroyed, they were suffering, they were crying and there was no reason for it.

A flame ignited in Shirou's heart. ' _Yes, that's it... a flame..._ ' all he needed was something like that. A light that was bright enough to obliterate the darkness and warm enough to wipe away the tears. Shirou needed something like that.

His head lowered as he realized he could not be that light. Shirou Emiya was not one who could inspire hope to the suffering. He could not make people smile with his presence alone. But... He remembered. A Blue... a Royal Blue that always ignited hope in him, even in the most dire of situations. The Royal Blue and Gold that protected him wherever he went. That familiar Blue and Gold had told him time and time again, ' _I will protect you no matter what, Master._ '

' _Saber..._ '

Shirou stepped forward, placing a hand over Cana's shoulder and somehow grabbing her attention despite the chaos. The young lady turned, looking at Shirou with a tear streaked face. "It's alright." Shirou spoke softly. "I need you to step back. I'll take care of everything." At his words, Cana stopped struggling, allowing Macao to relax and clear the way.

"Everyone!" Shirou shouted. His shout was not an angry one, it was a strong one, strong enough to gain everyone's attention. "Please clear the area!"

The Fairy Tail mages gave mixed reactions to Shirou's commands. Some obeyed, stepping away and standing at the sidelines. Others were reluctant and stayed in hope of protecting their home. However, once they saw Shirou's next move, everyone had listened.

Extending his right arm and bracing it with the left, Shirou opened his hand and grasped the hilt that had yet to exist. "Trace..." Shirou imagined it the best he could, the sword she used, the one he saw in his dreams. A blue light sparked within Shirou's hand.

 _Judging the concept of creation_

 _Hypothesizing the basic structure_

 _Duplicating the composition material_

 _Imitating the skill of its making_

 _Sympathizing with the experience of its growth_

 _Reproducing the accumulated years_

 _Excelling every manufacturing process_

"...On!" The particles of blue danced into the shape of a long, medieval broadsword. It was the sword Shirou needed at this very moment. The gold and blue long sword of the strongest person Shirou knew, his hero, Arturia Pendragon.

The sword in Shirou's hand began glowing a warm golden color. It was the sight of this sword alone that reassured everyone and convinced them to step aside.

Shirou placed his left leg behind the right, turning his torso. He held the golden blade at his side, pointing it at the enormous shade in front of him. Particles of golden light danced around the area like fireflies in the night. The beautiful sword gleamed with the flame in Shirou's heart.

" **Sword of Selection, grant me power! Cleave the wicked!** "

The sword's golden light grew brighter as Shirou thrust it forward.

" **CALIBURN!** "

From the sword, a bright beam of golden light shot out. As the beam connected with the jellyfish shade, it seemed to disappear inside of it. But all was not as it seemed.

A single explosion of victorious light ate away one of the shade's arms, and then another, and another. The air around the shade crackled with Caliburn's light, causing explosion after explosion, creating a sight to rival even the most beautiful display of fireworks.

The Fairy Tail wizards had to look away, shielding their eyes from the light that shined like the sun. But Shirou kept his gaze, for the light had reminded him of his dearest friend. The light was warm and they found themselves no longer scared, even after it dimmed, they felt the same. The sword Shirou had used would protect them, that was what it told them when they had saw it.

Once the light faded completely, the shade was nowhere to be found. Some had expected it to grow back and even prepared for it, but Shirou wore a confident look on his face. He knew the creature was gone for good.

After waiting, it was safe the wizards to say the shade would never return. It had been eaten up by the Sword of Selection. After a few seconds, cheers had been shouted and cries could be heard.

Shirou looked down at the blade in his hand. A crack formed over the center and began to grow. Fractures and chips formed all over the sword until it faded away completely, leaving motes of blue lights in its wake. In the end, she had come to save him again. Even if he were worlds away, she would protect him, just like she always had. Shirou looked up at the prana from the blade as it floated into the sky.

"Thank you... Saber..."

* * *

Jose sat in his throne, watching and expecting his shades to consume Makarov's children. When he saw a red haired boy, who definitely didn't belong to Fairy Tail, step in and destroy his shade, he began seething. The light he saw was beautiful to most, but Jose saw something else. The light was disgusting to him, and when it appeared, he felt his connection with the creatures cease, which meant they were gone for good, unable to revive.

"Those brats..." Jose growled. "Just fall over and die!" Standing up, Jose stepped down the long stairs of his throne. If the foot soldiers of Fairy Tail had means to destroy his shades, then he would have to save them for later, when he could personally kill them.

A loud noise to the left caught Jose's attention. At the sight of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards, he didn't even flinch. They were too weak to face him after all. "Looks like you've saved me the trouble of finding you." Jose taunted. "Who want's to die first?"

Not bothering to speak to the Phantom Lord guild master, Erza and the rest charged into battle.

Erza's swords began flying around her in a disc formation, avoiding the wings of her Heaven's Wheel armor. "Dance, my blades." The swords levitated over Erza's head and launched themselves at Jose.

The master of Phantom Lord extended his arm, an unseen force blasting away the swords. Then, from behind, he sensed a presence. It was Erza, who had moved to his backside when he was distracted. He side stepped to dodge the attack, but he unknowingly stepped into their trap.

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray shouted. His arms outstretched and hands gleaming with magic power.

Long, sharp lances of ice flew at Jose with blinding speed. Jose crossed his arms, tanking the lances with his magic power. The lances hadn't cleared, but what Jose heard nearly caused him to worry.

"Ice-Make: Hammer!" A large hammer made of ice floated over Jose's head. As the lances of ice stopped, the hammer fell and completely encased Jose in ice.

Elfman came running over. Jumping into the air, he raised his arm, preparing to launch his fist. "Beast Arm: Black Bull!" His right arm transformed into a muscular, black, furry arm of an animal. Launching his fist, Elfman shattered the ice and made contact with Jose on the inside.

Jose flinched, they were stronger than he had assumed him to be. He swiped the air in front of himself, red energy pulsed out of Jose's arm and shot into Elfman and Gray, knocking them back into the stone walls of the room.

From behind, Erza flew through Jose, slashing with her swords at light speed. Jose thrashed from the pain and prepared to launch a counter attack, only to be hit in the back with dozens of swords that followed up on Erza's attack. "Blumenblatt!"

"Enough!" Jose yelled. Raven colored energy flowed from his hands, growing to large sizes. The energy launched straight for Mirajane, wrapping itself around her and raising her in the air.

Mirajane began screaming in pain.

"Nee-Chan!" Elfman screamed, running over to save his sister. As he made it to Mira, he found himself entangled in the same purple energy. It caused agonizing pain at just a single touch. He tried struggling free, but that only increased the pain.

Gray stepped back, dodging one of the shade traps from Jose. Gray slid back, putting his hands together. "Ice-Make: Lance!" Extending his arms, he shot dozens of ice lances at Jose.

Jose clawed at the air, causing a pulse of energy to shatter Gray's ice. The force traveled until it made contact with Gray, pushing him into one of the dark entanglers and trapping him.

Erza sliced through Jose, the air pressure forming the shape of a star. "Pentagram Sword!"

Jose screamed in pain, grabbing at his core where Erza's sword connected. "You damned brat!" He lifted his arm to the side, opening his hand as some of the purple energy flowed into it like a vortex, forming an orb. Once the orb grew to a large enough size, he shot his hand forward at Erza, causing the orb to shoot out a powerful beam.

Erza's entire body began to glow a golden color. "Requip!" She shouted. Her Heaven's wheel armor changing into a dark, bulky and jagged armor with two shields attached to her forearms. Raising the shields and connecting them, Erza took the blast head on.

Her shield began to chip and crack, Jose's attack proved to be quite powerful. As the power grew lighter, Erza knew the shot was nearly over. She lifted her footing, allowing the blast to carry her. Once the shot faded completely, she lowered her shields and shifted in the air. Her feet touched the wall and the force brought her to a crouch.

While on the wall, Erza's body began glowing again, the shape of her Adamantine armor disappearing in the light. Erza's new armor had large black pauldrons with silver crosses, which could be found on her black metallic flauds as well. She had greaves and gauntlets of the same color, but the most surprising feature was the wings on her back. And on an unimportant side note, her hair was in a pony tail.

Erza pushed off the wall, launching herself at Jose. Her wings extended and her sword true, Erza rushed past the Phantom Lord guild master, leaving a cross shape slice pattern in her wake.

Jose screamed, falling to the floor while clutching his chest.

' _That was too easy._ ' Erza thought to herself. ' _Something's wrong._ ' And then, Jose's unconscious body had vanished.

Erza raised her guard, turning around and pointing her sword ahead. Then, she felt a sharp pain in her backside. The pain grew bigger in an instant as an unseen force knocked her into a shade trap. In the process, she had lost her sword to a pile of rubble.

Erza began struggling in the grasp of the shadow prison, but strangely, it started to tighten as well as increase the pain.

"Struggling only makes it worse." Jose taunted. walking closer to Erza, Jose stretched out his arms, generating magic circles. "It's a good thing I've caught all of you now. If I let you run around, Fairy Tail really would have become the strongest guild." Darkness oozed from the magic circles, Falling to the floor before rising into large skeletal beings.

"All of this talk about who's on top... how petty!" Erza growled.

Jose broke out in laughter. "Maybe it is petty." The creatures began clawing at the air in front of Erza. Looking closely, they appeared to be siphoning her magic power. "But I don't care about that. I just want your guild mates to fall into despair. After seeing the invincible Titania suffering in agony, they'll all lose hope!"

"Erza!" Gray shouted, struggling in his own captivity while ignoring the pain.

Mirajane and Elfman had begun to panic as well. Each of them wrestling with the shadows holding them in place. "Erza!" They both yelled.

Erza's sword began levitating. It turned in the air, facing her as it came closer. ' _If I become a liability to the guild..._ ' At her command, the sword continued its path, heading straight for Erza's back. And then she felt a warm feeling.

The pieces of her armor that had broken off during battle began to reform, connecting to her armor and melding in place. The shades around everyone disappeared and they all were lowered gently to the floor.

' _What is this familiar warmth?_ ' Erza saw the room brighten up with a white light. Turning around, she saw her master gliding down to the ground. "Master!"

* * *

Shirou stood still in the spot where he had vanquished the shade, fearing that if he moved, he would faint. He could hear shouts and screams coming from around him. They sounded cheerful, celebratory even.

"He did it!"

"We're saved!"

"Finally, I can rest!"

Even with the shade gone, Shirou could not find time to celebrate. Nor could he find time to rest. Erza and the others are still in Phantom Lord territory and Shirou could not help but worry. It seemed others felt the same way, as Cana and Macao had maintained their long faces from earlier. He turned around to look at the Phantom Lord structure when he began to feel nauseous.

Shirou felt strange. A warmth traveled from his esophagus and into his mouth. Falling to the ground, he placed a hand over his mouth. The color red slid onto his hand, between his fingers and onto the ground. Coughing, Shirou could feel many bones in his body stab into shredded muscles. His body was completely wrecked. In all honesty, he had long since past his limit when he received the damage from Rho Aias. Fighting with shredded muscles and broken bones wasn't an easy task, but performing a feat only meant for heroic spirits with a broken body had thrown him out of commission.

Several Fairy Tail wizards rushed to Shirou's side, Cana and Macao making it over before everyone else.

"Emiya!" Cana shouted.

Shirou coughed up at least a liter of blood. Holding a hand to his side, Shirou turned over and sat up. "I'm fine." He spoke with a weak voice.

"Like hell you are!" Cana tried to make Shirou lay down, but the boy protested, saying that he should sit up for now. "If I had known you were wounded, I wouldn't have let you fight along side us."

Shirou shook his head. "No, I wasn't wounded." Shirou said, his words causing confusion around him. "It was my shield... the one from earlier."

Macao's eyes widened. "Ah, you mean that pink flower!"

Shirou sighed, Rho Aias had been described in two words and it didn't do the beautiful shield any justice. "The damage it receives reflects onto my body."

"What a crappy shield, you might as well have just taken the damage directly if that's the case." Wakaba added, shrinking back when he received glares from his guild mates.

"Even so..." Cana muttered. She wanted to tell Shirou that he can refrain from such actions in the future, but honestly, she didn't know what they would have done without him. "Never mind... thanks, Emiya. I owe you a drink."

Shirou chuckled. "That's fine. During the battle, you had my back. If anything, I owe all of you."

Macao's face scrunched up. "Are you kidding me? You didn't even have to come in the first place, yet you did. You even sustained critical injury on our account. It's all of us who are in your debt." Macao sighed. "And you stopped the Jupiter cannon with that pretty flower." He added, causing Shirou to close his eyes and sigh.

"Even so, I was in your debt first." Shirou began. "I would be dead if I hadn't met Erza, I would be homeless without Master Makarov... And I would be hopeless without the rest of you." Shirou smiled brightly, his gratitude emanating from his person.

Wakaba raised a hand, rubbing his eye as he sniffled before receiving an elbow to the rib cage from Macao.

Shirou's eyes widened momentarily before falling back down. He had remembered something just now, something that he wanted to bring up earlier. "Also, I'm not old enough to drink."

Everyone stopped what they were doing for a few moments. No idle chatter, no cheering, no noise. Everyone stopped what they were doing just to stare at Shirou.

Cana raised an eyebrow. "What...?"

A large white, translucent dome of energy appeared around the giant mech castle, somehow causing the water around to go crazy. The waves then fell instantly with a blast of white. All of this chaos caught everyone's attention.

"What's going on in there?" Asked Al from his resting place.

Shirou began to sit up only to be forced back down by numerous hands.

"Where do you think you're going in that condition?" Cana asked.

"Erza and Natsu are still in there." Shirou replied. "Elfman, Mirajane, Lucy and Gray are in there too."

Cana sighed. To her, it only made sense that someone this altruistic would have came to save everyone. "There's nothing to worry about, Emiya. They're Fairy Tail wizards."

A blast of purple energy blew a part of the castle away and into the water. The purple explosion was followed by a stronger, bright white one. Shirou was captivated by the two magical energies, but not for the reasons everyone else were. Shirou could feel nothing but concern for his friends who were still in the structure.

Shirou turned to the right, he sensed a familiar power ahead.

"Emiya!"

Erza along with her friends, from over a hill, came running over with a concerned look on her face. "What happened?" she asked. She looked down and noticed the pool of blood Shirou sat in. Crouching, she checked his condition in closer detail. "Emiya, how did you get so wounded?"

"I'm fine, Erza." Shirou replied, thinking about how they must've heard him to conveniently show up just now.

From behind the armor clad female knight, Gray Fullbuster crossed his arms and scoffed. "Like hell you are, you're sitting in a cup of your own blood."

Erza continued her questioning, ignoring Gray's remark. "Emiya, you're more injured than anyone here. How did this happen?"

"It's not anything serious. I just used magic that was too strong for my body to handle." Shirou replied.

"Yeah!" A voice beamed from the back of the group, catching everyone's attention. "Emiya's a ma-! Ow! Nee-Chan!?"

Erza looked back to Shirou. "You didn't have to do that, Emiya. This wasn't even your battle in the first place."

Shirou shook his head. "It's fine, I wanted to help." Shirou coughed, causing small droplets of blood to fly out of his mouth.

Erza's face took a solemn expression. Shirou was injured badly on their account. She had even let him fight after seeing him get wounded. But despite the topic of Shirou's injuries, there was something else that had been bothering her. "Emiya..." Erza began, grabbing Shirou's focus. "How did you know that we were in danger?"

Shirou looked into Erza's eyes, recounting the events leading up until now. "Mystogan..."

Shirou's explanation elicited several loud gasps. Many had surprised looks on there faces as they contemplated the name he uttered.

"Mystogan?!" Gray questioned.

Shirou nodded. "When I had left Magnolia, I was following a lead." Shirou turned back to the giant stone mech, watching the blast of white and purple as he told his story. "I found a corrupt guild, they would harass and terrorize many of the citizens and get away with it, so I figured that I would pay them a visit to confront them."

Everyone listened carefully to the story after hearing the name of their fellow guild member. Erza herself had appeared to be a little more worried than the others. She had been wondering if Shirou would make confronting dark guilds on his own into a habit.

"Once I set foot inside, I saw him. A man dressed in dark clothing, his cloak held down by staves strapped to his back. He was fighting them, all on his own." Shirou shifted his position, the stone ground was not comfortable for prolonged use. "I jumped into the fray and questioned him as we both defended against attacks. During the fight, he told me about your situation. That he was Mystogan of Fairy Tail, fighting for the sake of his friends. After hearing about your situation, I came as fast as possible."

"So he was there..." Gray whispered.

"Yeah!" A deep voice shouted once more. "Mystogan's a ma-! Nee-Chan, why?!"

A bright light radiated from the Phantom Lord structure, catching everyone's attention only to force them to close their eyes once it became brighter. The light was warm and bright, it reminded Shirou of someone he had met before. "What's that?" Shirou asked.

Erza smiled. "That's Fairy Law, a light that destroys the darkness. It attacks anyone the caster sees as an enemy. The spell is regarded as a legend."

Shirou turned his gaze back to the light. "A legend, huh..."

Shirou shifted his position, pushing off the ground. As he stood, he felt dizzy and nauseous. ' _Oh no..._ ' His legs grew weak and he felt himself losing balance. Shirou felt a gust of wind as he started to fall. Then, he felt something grab his arm. Feeling a pressure under his arm, Shirou turned to his side. "Thanks, Erza." He spoke, standing and watching the light as the female knight supported him.

Erza nodded, a positive 'mm' sound escaping her closed mouth. She threw her other arm around Shirou's side, allowing for more support as she held him up. The two of them watched as the light of Fairy Law slowly faded.

* * *

' _Juvia will win Gray-Sama over with her cooking! It will definitely work! Juvia spent three days and three nights making this lunch box!_ ' Juvia snuck around the corner, catching glimpses at Gray whenever she could.

He was sitting at a table, resting with the pink haired Dragon Slayer. The two were bickering over something, perhaps they were fighting over Juvia?! No, Gray would emerge victorious if that were the case.

Juvia sped over to a piece of rubble, using it as cover as she grew closer to Gray. ' _Once Gray-Sama isn't looking, Juvia will place her lunchbox on the table._ ' Juvia stood at the ready, waiting for the perfect moment.

Now! Both Gray and Natsu were distracted by something up ahead, this was the perfect opportunity. Juvia pushed off the ground with her legs, making her way to the table she -! Recoiled, running back to her hiding spot.

Someone else entered the scene. A red haired boy carrying plates of food walked over to Gray's table, placing the meals in front of the Dragon Slayer and Ice Mage. Juvia lowered her lunchbox, a solemn expression taking over her once hopeful face. ' _Someone is already cooking for Gray-Sama?! Not to mention a man around his age..._ ' Juvia pondered for a few moments before gasping quietly. ' _Gray-Sama... Is into men?!_ '

Juvia sped off, crying rivers of tears that somehow equated to more than the mass of her body. "Gray-Sama!"

* * *

"Gray-Sama!"

"Huh?!" Both Gray and Natsu stood from their seats, eyeing the direction of the voice.

"Someone's calling you, Gray." Said Natsu.

Gray shook his head. "Not a chance, I'm on break. There's no way anyone's calling for me."

A scowl formed on Natsu's face. "Are you trying to say that I'm crazy?!" Jumping forward, Natsu raised his fist towards Gray.

"Maybe I am!" Gray shouted, clashing heads with the Dragon Slayer.

From behind the table, Shirou sighed, wishing that the two would get along. Hearing footsteps over the gravel behind, Shirou turned around to greet the newcomer. He saw Erza Scarlet coming his way. Oddly enough, instead of armor, she was wearing a brown suit with white gloves and a construction hat.

"Don't worry about it, Emiya." Erza spoke. "It's how they bond."

"Erza. What brings you here?" Shirou asked.

Erza removed her hat, brushing her hair down with a gloved hand. "I'm on break." Placing the hat back on her head, Erza shifted her gaze back to Gray and Natsu. Out of nowhere, swords appeared over Erza's head and flew at Gray and Natsu, sending the two flying away.

Shirou wished he were like that. Able to take a slash from a sword like it were a blunt weapon. He still didn't know how Erza was able to cause blunt force trauma with the sharp edge of a sword and he wasn't entirely sure if he was supposed to find out.

Shaking his head, Shirou turned back to Erza. Looking at it now, there was something strange about her outfit. It reminded him of something.

"Is something on your mind?" Erza asked, seeming to find his gaze on her outfit.

"Ah, no. I'm sorry If I was staring." Shirou raised his hands in a defensive stance. "It's just that... your outfit reminds me of my school uniform." Shirou grew silent. He had let the words slip right out of his mouth. He definitely had to be careful about what he said around the female knight. After all, he couldn't just shrug off all of the suspicions with ' _It's how things are back home_ '. So, Shirou waited for a response with an anxious feeling.

Erza merely nodded. "It's only natural to be homesick, Emiya." She said with her eyes closed. "But until you find a way back, you can count Fairy Tail as your second home."

The two smiled at each other before awkwardly taking note of the guild house's current state.

"Well, when construction is finished." Erza added.

Shirou nodded. "Can I get you anything?" Shirou asked.

"If it's not too much trouble..." Erza's gaze fell onto his bandaged forearms.

"It's fine." Shirou said. "My injuries have mostly healed, I can serve you without a problem."

Erza nodded, but didn't say anything more. She had been worrying about Shirou's wounds throughout the entire week and Shirou seemed to notice it. In fact, everyone seemed to notice it. But it was not only Erza who worried, everyone had been constantly bothering Shirou about how he should rest and that he didn't owe them anything. Shirou would always correct them, reassuring them that he was fine and his wounds had been healing rather fast.

Erza herself had found it strange that several fractures all over Shirou's skeleton had been healing twice as fast as they should be. She couldn't question Shirou about it, because he had admitted to not knowing what it was either. Shirou Emiya was a strange person, Erza could tell that there was something more to him. There was just something that screamed ' _I'm a piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit anywhere._ ' whenever she looked at him.

"A strawberry cake, then."

Erza was brought back to reality by Shirou's voice. She had to replay it in her head to find out what he had said. "Yes, please." She nodded.

Shirou walked off, ready to prepare 'lunch' for his friend.

* * *

"Do you need help with that?"

Makarov turned around, following the voice back to its owner. "Oh, Emiya!" He smiled from above one of the beams. Shrinking back to normal size, Makarov looked up at the figure of Emiya Shirou. "I couldn't possibly ask for your help, you've done enough for us already."

Shirou shook his head. "Nonsense. Friends help each other out, that's the way things work." Shirou walked over to the wooden beam, seeming to ignore the wide eyed stare he received from Makarov. Walking over to the beam, Shirou touched it and donned a focused look. "So, I'm guessing the problem is the wood? There are several fractures throughout the beam. It won't hold up if you continue hammering other pieces of wood into it."

Makarov nodded. "I was having trouble with that. How did you know the problem?" He asked.

Shirou turned around, facing Makarov. "I have a magic that lets me see the structure of things like a blueprint."

"That's quite a useful magic!" Makarov said. "That aside, I guess we shouldn't be recycling the materials from the old guild house. We were trying to save money, but if we have to buy new materials, we can."

Shirou raised a hand to his chin. "Maybe you don't have to... Let me try something." Turning back to the wood, Shirou placed his hand on it again. Closing his eyes and focusing.

Makarov could hear Shirou muttering something, like an aria of some sort.

"Trace... on."

Shirou removed his hand and turned back around. "Try it now." Stepping aside, Shirou made room for Makarov.

Makarov nodded and stepped closer to the beam. Channeling his magic, his body inflated to the size of a twenty foot giant. Lifting his hand, Makarov softly bashed the nail through the piece of wood and was surprised when it didn't break. Seeing as it was now structurally sound, Makarov began applying heavier force, causing the nail to connect the two beams together.

Makarov shrunk back to his normal size, a surprised look on his face. "That's some impressive magic, Emiya."

Shirou nodded. "It's useful." Walking over to a pile of wood, Shirou knelt down. "Is this the scrap pile?" He asked.

"Yes." Makarov replied. "That's the material we couldn't use."

Shirou brushed his fingers against a piece of the scrapped material. "If you gather all of the broken wood here, I can reinforce them so that you can reuse them."

Makarov took up a defensive expression. "Are you sure? What about your magic power, won't you get tired?"

Shirou shook his head. "No. I'll need to space it out over a few days, but I can handle it."

Makarov raised a hand, scratching the back of his head. "Alright then. I sent Laki home earlier, so it'll be a big help. Thank you, Emiya."

"No problem." Shirou said, turning his attention back to the scrap pile.

* * *

Erza had finished walking Lucy back to her home with Natsu and Gray and she had been feeling tired herself. Taking a deep breath, Erza exhaled and made her way to Fairy Hills, Fairy Tail's female dormitory building, or, as she knew it, the place she lived at. Along the way, Erza had decided to visit the construction sight of the new guild house. It was night time already, so one could imagine her surprise when she found Shirou there, sitting on one of the thick wooden beams that lay side ways on the ground and looking at the starry night sky.

Erza had halted her pace when she spotted him, but when the surprise wore off, she continued. As she got close, Shirou turned to face her. "Emiya, what are you doing here?"

Shirou turned back to the sky. "I was out helping the guild master with construction."

At those words, Erza stiffened and Shirou appeared to have noticed.

"Don't worry, it wasn't anything strenuous." Shirou said, hoping to relieve the female knight. "Anyway. I was fixing some of the scrap wood so that you guys could use them. I was here for a while and it started to get dark. I was going to leave, but... I saw the sky and I decided to stay."

Erza was confused. For what reason would the sky make him stay out past eight? She shook her head, figuring that Shirou was just a star gazer. "Emiya... about this week..." Erza walked around the wooden beam, positioning herself in front of Shirou. She lowered her head and bent forward into a bow. "Thank you, Emiya. You fought on our account and you were even injured doing so. I was worried about leaving my friends behind as I fought Phantom Lord, but you had come to protect them in my stead."

"I don't want to hear that." Shirou said softly. "I'm the one who insisted on fighting. I would have been there no matter what, Erza."

Erza stayed low for a few seconds, pondering Shirou's words. Standing to full height, Erza looked Shirou in the eyes. "Even so, I'm in your debt."

Shirou shook his head for the fiftieth time today. "I was in yours first."

Erza's expression contorted into confusion. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Shirou broke his gaze with Erza, favoring the sight of the stars above. "When you first found me last month, I was injured. I used up all of my magic power and I couldn't find any of my friends around. Then, there you came, extending a helping hand after we had just met."

"Emiya..."

Shirou looked back at Erza. "I was still lost though. So when you brought me to Fairy Tail, it had soon become a place I could call home, even if just for a while."

Erza sighed. "Still, if there's something I can do for you."

Shirou pondered for a moment, probably thinking of how he can get Erza to change her mind. "Alright, if you want to do something, you can sit down over here." Shirou patted the area next to himself on the wooden beam.

"That's it?" Erza questioned.

Shirou nodded.

Erza walked over to the side, holding her skirt down as she took a seat next to Shirou. "Emiya, I don't mind sitting with you, but I must ask why?"

"It's nice to look at the sky at night, but it gets lonely." Said Shirou. "When I was a kid, I would sit out on the porch at night and watch the sky with my old man."

Erza turned from the stars. Hearing a story coming up, she looked at the narrator.

"We would talk for hours." He began. "I remember one time we had stayed up talking until the sun came up. We had to correct our sleep schedules over the week after that."

Erza, not knowing what to say looked up to the stars. The two of them stayed staring in silence for hours. After a while, Erza felt her eyes grow heavy. The exhaustion of her last battle taking over.

Erza could not predict the future. If she could, she would have definitely avoided a repeat of her previous mistake.

* * *

 **lol, guess what happens next. Just kidding, don't. You'll spoil the surprise.**

 **Anyway, don't call me a weeb for using Japanese terms. I thought about it for a while and I came to the realization that nothing really works in place of them. So, characters like Wendy and Elfman will still be using Honorifics and specific terms. But regardless, there won't be any weebish stuff in this story.**

 **That being said, I want to thank the people who answered the Shirou/Gaia questions... I received mixed answers, both showing merit, so I'll just leave it ambiguous in this story like how Nasu did in the VN.**

 **Some had been saying that Rho Aias won't hold up against the JC, but I disagree. Rho Aias is stronger against projectiles, and Archer even fed it prana to strengthen it, which Shirou in this story also does.**

 **I won't write it in the story, but Shirou used the first line of his UBW aria to strengthen his projection of Rho Aias. No one heard him though.**

 ** **I wanted to say more things, but I forgot because I'm dumb. So I'll get right to addressing those reviews. On a side note, I was surprised to see that my previous chapter earned me 43 reviews. I actually hold more value over reviews than I do favorites or follows... I'm weird.****

 ** ** **Hold on, I just want to ask... Can I get banned for writing responses to reviews in script form? If so, I don't want to be playing with fire and I'll have to address the reviews in a sophisticated and boring way.******

* * *

 **revetwrot said:** **I wonder how far along we are from seeing Unlimited Blade Works. I also want to see Erza's face once she sees it.**

 **Dal: ... Pretty far along...**

* * *

 **StoryReiter said:** **Projectile Defense MOFO. Well, even if Fairy Tail could be as brutal as it is in the background which you'll probably focus on more than canon does from time to time, Emiya would have an easier time being a Hero of Justice here than on Earth with Secrecy/Decaying Magecraft although some might say the extra rules and specific law enforcement for magic might make it harder. Fate's Poster Boy of a Swiss Magic Knife and Cook shows up. Looking forward to more, most crossover for the two are lying dormant so Im happy that this is a thing, thank you.**

 **Dal: Yeah, a lot of stories lie dormant, I hope this one doesn't... Also, you're welcome.**

 **Thoughts though, does Shirou have a counterpart in Edolas? Probably not but I thought it would be interesting even if its still far away. Some characters in Fairy Tail exceed even those of Servants in parameters and power, Shirou has his work and survival cut out for him. Oh, well, he made it through the HGW. Should I jinx it? Nah, he's doing a fine job already eh, author?**

 **Dal: Honestly, I think how far some of the stronger FT characters would go in the spectrum of servant power is debatable. I personally think some of the power houses would be at the level of weaker servants than the stronger ones. Now, some of the final bosses in the FT manga, I would think that they could match up to a strong servant in terms of power. But other than them, I just can't see it.**

 **Also, yes. Our boy, Shirou is doing phenomenal.**

* * *

 **Archleone said:** **I don't particularly like "prequel chapters". They seem pointless. It's like when bad writers do a time skip, then immediately write a flashback. What was the point of skipping ahead? It's stupid, awkward, and inefficient.**

 **Dal: I guess, but I just wanted people to know where Shirou went. But I actually postponed it and planned to release it in pair with another chapter, you know, for those who don't like prequel chapters.**

 **That said, I agree that the impact of Shirou's little hero moment at the end would have been better if the chapter were longer. Like if there was more to the chapter between his resigning from his job and the attack on the Guild. This could be filled with more Erza doing things and/or reflecting on Shirou more. It could also be filled with Shirou doing things, but then you run into the problem of his being too present for there to be a significant impact at the end.**

 **Dal: I knew I forgot something! Dang...**

 **Then again, it's meant to be impactful for the characters more than anything so it hardly matters if the readers feel the impact since it was kind of predictable to begin with and wouldn't have had much impact on the reader. I doubt anyone was surprised that Shirou appeared at the last moment, or that he used Rho Aias. It's a fairly typical thing for Shirou to do in fan fiction, though not a bad thing really.**

 **Dal: Yeah.**

 **I half want to see Shirou use Caliburn at some point (or as a go-to weapon even) just for that scene with Erza at the shop to go somewhere. Ultimately, I'm reading this story for interactions between Erza and Shirou. Maybe even Erza/Shirou as a pairing. Shirou being a bad ass would also be nice, but what I'm getting at is that I don't really care about what arcs you're doing from canon or otherwise specifically so long as the focus is on Erza, Shirou, or Erza and Shirou both. Quality is also important- how well you write the scenes.  
**

 **Dal: Wait for it... Wait, Erza didn't see it... What is wrong with me?!**

 **Getting worried about upsetting someone because you're using some canon events is pointless because some of them are relatively unavoidable without changing a lot. The thing you want to avoid is forcing canon events despite changes, which is what a lot of lazier writers do. For example, some specific event that would lead to a certain villain getting involved might be circumvented entirely, but then the villain gets involved anyway through a bunch of really nonsensical and contrived events just so that the arcs relating to them can still happen or continue. This happens a lot. It's awful because it's just plain bad writing. It doesn't really matter what fandom it is, because it's present in basically all of them.**

 **Dal: Man, that was ruthless. I honestly didn't expect this from you... Anyway, something similar will happen later, but not necessarily a circumvention and then involvement later on. Some villians will either appear sooner, change, suffer and become more evil. Some villians will be made and others will be made up. (Forgive me for using OCs it's really necessary as it's hard working with this cast.)**

 **Using canon events in a way that makes sense and putting a believable twist on them involving the new character or changes or whatever is otherwise fine. Shirou is a bad ass that can make a lot of situations simpler (i.e. make winning a lot easier), but he isn't omnipresent and can't be around to do everything for everyone. In that sense, many of the canon events (several/most of which involve Natsu) could still go forward relatively unimpeded while the focus on Shirou (and maybe Erza) can include new elements on the side/as the focus for the actual story you are writing. Natsu's stuff can be semi-background for Shirou's stuff, and cross over when it's interesting or sensible for it to happen, like right in this chapter where Shirou shows up when the Guild is being attacked and protects Erza from a heavy attack.**

 **Dal: yea.**

 **Of course, this is just my view on things. As I said, my primary desire in this story is to see Shirou be cool and get involved with Erza on multiple levels. I'm not even particularly invested in the idea of Shirou going off on his own hunting/investigating Dark Guilds because that keeps him away from Erza if she's not going with him. What you have in mind could be very different to what I'd like to see.**

 **Dal: To anyone reading this. This man is a true Ershi shipper. Follow his example.**

 **Anyway, good luck with the next chapter.**

* * *

 **alexkellar (A.K.A. the guy who was the sole cause for the existence of this story.) said:** **haha actually was entertaining, of course, a little more detail in some scenes extending a little more, it would have helped, but it was a good chapter.**

 **Dal: Yeah, I just got into writing recently so it's hard to do those things. I'll get better as I go and the chapters will be longer. And then when I do the revised version of this story I'll fix a lot of the mistakes and flaws.**

 **although I think the cannon should break at least one of the Rho Aias petals, I mean, that could eliminate the entire guild of Fairy Tail and surrounding places with its strength, right? Anyway, good chapter, I look forward to the next!**

 **Dal: Oh, it did... I also look forward to what happens next.**

* * *

 **UzumakiSora said:** **Yeah! It's back! Even if it was short I can't wait for more!**

 **Dal: Thanks, bro.**

* * *

 **AmethystPone said:** **'Warrioress' isn't a word.  
'Warrior' is already a gender neutral word.  
Same with 'Hunter'.  
'Huntress' is only a word because 'huntsman' exist. All due to the nobles wanting to sound sophisticate when they wax poetry...**

 **Dal: I already explained this in a PM, but I'll do it again for those who thought the same thing.**

 **I know it's not a word, but it's a reference to the FT OST called "Scarlet Haired Warrioress". Even if it's not a word, it sounds cool, right?... I'm a bad writer...**

* * *

 **C. said:** **more please and sooooooon! :)**

 **Dal: Wow... I have fans!**

* * *

 **Mr. Nava said:** **Hey Dal, after reading your response to AmethystPone's review, I started thinking of Shirou's strength. For a basis I started thinking of Prisma Illya universe's Shirou (since he's arguably the strongest iteration of the existence known as Shirou Emiya). P.I.(Prisma Illya) Shirou took down 5 demi-servants in the same night (demi or not, a servant is a servant). I'm guessing this is UBW route Shirou (based on what I've read so far), will your Shirou ever reach the strength that P.I. Shirou has? I'm asking since pretty much only the strongest fighters in the Fairy Tail universe could match up to a servant or a noble phantasm.**

 **Dal: No. P.I. Shirou was buffed by the author of the manga. As it stands, this Shirou is unable to reach that level by the rules of the Nasuverse. Don't worry, though. I have something special planned for him.**

* * *

 **I'm a Nobody. Who Are You said:** **This chapter works fine as a transition between the two sections.  
Now I just wanna know where our boy was all this time.  
Is the shield going to last or is our boy taking the hit?**

 **Thank you for writing. Interested in seeing what you have planned.**

 **Dal: Our boy won't be able to explain until the next chapter. Hopefully I can release them in pairs. Also, thanks. I'm also interested in seeing what I have planned.**

* * *

 **I would respond to more reviews, but I'm afraid that would take up too much of the screen and word count. It's simply a matter of how far I can push it before I get banned.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, this chapter was 9k words or something, but the AN made it seem longer.**

 **Remember to open your loot boxes and eat four meals a day.**

 **-Dal**


	8. A Day Out

**Sorry about not posting for two months. A chain of unfortunate events had occurred, so I couldn't write. But don't worry, immediately after, a chain of fortunate events took place and made everything happy again.**

 **Due to the chain of unfortunate events, the prequel chapter will probably be released before the next chapter, or it will be incorporated into it.**

 **With that said, please enjoy the story.**

* * *

"Oh my..."

"What are they doing?..."

"Wha- Erza's..."

"Happy! We were right all along!"

"Were his cakes really that good?"

Erza felt the pressure of sleep being lifted off of her chest. Her eyes protested as she opened her lids, a view of the sunrise being the first thing that she saw. Her neck was stiff and she could feel her head leaning against something. Attempts to raise her head failed, something was on top, holding it down. Raising her right arm, she grabbed the weight and held it in place. Sliding her head out, Erza caught a glimpse of the situation.

Erza's heart dropped in her chest. Her head filled with memories from last night, of her and Shirou watching the stars. Now that she thought of it, she didn't remember leaving. With a bit of stiff pain, she turned her head to the left. 'Why have I made the same mistake!?' Erza thought to herself. While both her and Shirou had been star gazing, she had apparently fallen asleep on his shoulder. Erza could only hope that Shirou had fallen asleep at the same time.

She felt Shirou stirring awake and removed her hand from his head. Erza shot up from the wooden beam she had been sitting on, a nervous attempt to make the situation less awkward. Turning around, Erza's heart sunk even further. She saw most of her guild mates staring at her with wide eyes, the master included. She was able to live with it last time since only her team knew about it, but this time, the entire guild saw her. She didn't even do it on purpose, Shirou would always spend time with her when the they both were tired. Erza sighed, she would have to stop hanging around Shirou when she was tired.

As Shirou woke, he had stood up immediately. Bowing slightly as he apologized to Erza, to which she stated that it wasn't his fault. Still though, he had the expression of guilt on his face.

As the day went on, several guild members had been foolish enough to tease Erza about her incident. After experiencing her overwhelming and terrifying aura, nobody dared to bring up the incident in a shameful manner.

Erza requipped back into her construction outfit and soon got to work. Stepping over some rubble, she made her way to the pile of wood used for construction. Slouching down, she prepared to lift the wood.

"Erza?"

Erza stood up and turned around, catching sight of Shirou standing by one of the crumbled brick walls.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" He asked.

Erza shook her head. "No. I was so busy that I had forgotten about it. If you're cooking for everyone, I'll have a cheesecake."

Shirou sighed. "Erza... cake isn't very healthy for you. Even if I try, I can't bake a healthy cake."

Erza grew confused and her face showed it. "But Emiya, what will you do then?"

Shirou himself had grown confused, mainly because of Erza's statement. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Erza spoke quietly, feeling as if she were treading on thin ice. "I was under the impression that you could only bake cake." She said, phrasing it as politely as possible.

Shirou chuckled nervously. "Well, I guess it's only normal to think that since everybody only ordered cake."

"So... you can cook a normal meal?" Erza asked, trying her bet not to offend Shirou.

"Yes." Shirou replied. "Is there anything specific you'd like to order?"

Erza shook her head. "As long as it tastes good, I'll be fine."

Shirou nodded, folding his arms behind his back. "Alright. I'll bring your meal to one of the tables Mirajane set up when it's done."

"That's fine." Erza watched Shirou's form as he left the area. He was still badly wounded, but something like this wasn't too much for his body to handle. As long as he didn't enter combat for a while, he'd be fine.

Erza sighed. She recalled the moments after the battle against Phantom Lord. Shirou had insisted that his wounds weren't as bad as they looked. Erza was about to bring him to a doctor when Gray intervened and offered to do so instead. Shirou looked relieved and accepted Gray's offer immediately. After that, the two went on their way. It was obvious that Shirou was trying to hide something. Perhaps Gray caught on and that's why he offered his assistance.

Erza cleared away her thoughts as she knelt back down to the pile. Determined to rebuild the guild house, she was prepared to work the day away.

* * *

Shirou would have made rice, but the guild didn't seem to have any on stock at the current moment. It was understandable since the guild house had been obliterated in the last battle. In the end, Shirou made mashed potatoes instead. It was a common meal here since they were in the west, and Shirou had to admit that it went well with chicken.

Shirou chuckled to himself. Maybe he had some western blood in him, that would explain the meal on the counter right in front of him. It would also explain his red hair, something Shirou wondered about for a while.

Then again, chicken, potatoes and milk were pretty much all they had, save for some spices, seasoning and other cooking supplies. Shirou was just glad that Erza didn't ask for anything specific.

"Emiya, are you busy?"

Shirou turned to his left. Mirajane came walking over to him from behind the counter. "Hi, Mirajane," Shirou greeted. "Can I do something for you?"

Mirajane shook her head. "The tables have been set up, you don't have to walk all over the place just to serve everyone now."

"Ah, thank you." Shirou said.

Mirajane smiled, a simple gesture which somehow illuminated the room. "I'll head back to the bar now. If you need anything, you know where to find me."

Shirou returned the smile, replying to her own friendly gesture. "Alright."

Mirajane turned around, walking out of the temporary kitchen tent.

Shirou turned his attention back to the meal he had been cooking. He would have to bring it to Erza before it got cold. Reaching down, Shirou grabbed the plate in his left hand and the mug of water, raising the two before walking toward the exit. He ducked under the sheet that was dangling over the exit, slouching as he made his way out of the tent. Standing back to full height, Shirou spotted a collection of chairs and tables. Nodding to himself, he began walking over to one of the tables, planning on finding Erza immediately afterwards.

As he neared the table, he saw everyone sitting around. It was break after all, so no one was working. Shirou would have to circle around and make sure that everyone was fed. Just as he was about to place the food on the table, he heard a rather heated argument going on to his left.

Shirou turned and caught sight of the source and his eyes widened momentarily. Erza was fuming. Standing in front of her was a tall blonde haired man. He had a scar shaped like a lightning bolt over his right eye and a pair of spiked headphones over each ear. A fur coat draped over his shoulders hid a green shirt underneath. Beneath that, he wore dark red slacks. Laxus Dreyar was his name.

Shirou had spoken to Macao and Wakaba earlier when they told him about Laxus. Apparently, he didn't even help during the war even when his guild mates had pleaded with him. If Shirou remembered right, Wakaba said that Laxus had made Mirajane cry.

"Well, yeah! It had nothing to do with me!" Laxus scowled. "Although if I had been there, you guys wouldn't have had so much trouble."

"Why you..." Erza grit her teeth, her face contorting with rage as she clenched her hands.

"Hold it right there!" Natsu came charging in from behind Erza much to her surprise. He jumped through the air and launched his fist straight for Laxus's jaw. Then, Laxus disappeared in a burst of lightning. Landing, Natsu sensed Laxus's presence and turned around. "Laxus! Fight me! You heartless Bastard!" Natsu shook his fist at the blonde haired wizard, causing him to laugh.

"What kind of fight would it be when you can't even catch me?" Laxus scanned the property, staring at each individual guild member. "When I inherit the guild, I'll get rid of all the weaklings. As well as anyone who stands against me! I'll make the ultimate guild! The strongest guild in history that no one can look down upon." With that, Laxus Dreyar began to walk away.

"I disagree with everything you've said just now." Shirou spoke. His voice came out of nowhere and startled a few of the guild members sitting around.

Laxus turned his head back. Upon seeing Shirou, he scoffed. "What's it to you? You're not even in the guild, it's none of your business."

Shirou placed the plate and mug down on the table. Standing to his full height, Shirou stared into the eyes of the young Lightning Wizard. "Maybe so, but I was just thinking... You talk as if you're so strong, yet even the so called 'weaklings' have done more than you." Shirou's words increased the already rising tension in the area, causing a few of the newer guild members to leave when no one was watching.

Laxus's expression changed into a scowl. "As I said, it had nothing to do with me." Laxus had expected Shirou to back down after this, but the boy had surprised him.

"Then that dawns another question." Shirou's eyes narrowed. He had no malicious intent, but his gaze burnt like fire. "Your wish is to inherit the guild and yet, when it was being attacked you were nowhere near."

"Again-"

"No true king has ever inherited a kingdom by doing nothing for it. If you don't work for something, then you don't deserve it. Someone with your mindset is more comparable to a thief than a guild master." As Shirou stared at Laxus, he couldn't help but be reminded a little of the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, whom he had fought just before coming to this world. "Anyone off the streets would be more worthy than you."

Laxus' face distorted into shocked anger for a few seconds. Regaining composure, he closed his eyes, his expression relaxing. "Emiya Shirou, was it?" Upon receiving a nod, he continued. "You have guts..." Turning around, Laxus began to glow a bright yellow color. "I'll be sure to remember you." And with that, the Dreyar vanished into threads of electricity.

Shirou too had relaxed once again, turning to Erza, he waved. "Erza, your meal is ready."

A few people around the tables stared wide eyed at Shirou. However, those wide eyes were filled more with concern than anything. Ignoring the stares, Shirou returned to the kitchen and awaited further orders.

* * *

Erza had a great start today. Even though Laxus had caused quite the stirring within the guild, she had quickly forgot about it once she ate the meal Shirou cooked for her. Every bite from the dish was bliss on her tongue. How Shirou managed to make such a heavenly meal with such low supplies was beyond her, but what was even more surprising was that the meal hadn't been reinforced.

There had been two misunderstandings. Shirou had thought Erza would only eat his meals if he reinforced them, causing him to apologize after explaining that he was too strained to do so. Erza herself believed that Shirou could only cook through the use of his reinforcement. She had silenty cursed at herself the moment she took the first bite. After she finished, she decided that she would ask Shirou to stop reinforcing her food.

It was fine for her though, the other members of her team had already done so long ago, saying that it made the cake too sweet. Erza had no idea what they were talking about, she actually liked reinforced cake. Although, even she had to admit that there was a middle ground that food should stay in, certain meals do better without their flavor enhanced.

Standing up, Erza made her way to the kitchen to bring her dishes back.

"So Emiya's just a uh... guy Erza?"

Erza quickly turned to the direction of the voice, a distressed grunt escaped her throat. A few of the lower tiered guild members were gossiping amongst themselves, only to spot Erza and quiet down. Once they stopped talking, Erza excused herself and kept moving.

Guy Erza? ' _Ridiculous, other than the fact that we share the same magic, Emiya and I are nothing alike._ '

"Nah, Emiya's got yellow eyes."

"You idiot, they're gold!"

"You can be in denial all you want, but you can't deny the fact that their initials are the same."

Erza ignored the conversation and kept walking forward.

The sound of one of the female guild members gasping could be heard to Erza's left. "Could they be related?!"

' _Emiya and I don't even look related._ '

"No! That's disgusting, they're obviously together."

Sighing, Erza sped faster, doing her best to ignore the more 'juicy' gossip. Her reputation had already been stained after that simple mistake and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Man it feels bad seeing your chef, a guy who isn't even in the guild, best a third of the members."

"Why would Makarov just hire him as a chef, he should be a guild member."

"Probably because we already have a redheaded sword wielding wizard."

This talk found Erza no matter how far she walked. Sure, the giant flower shield was impressive, but the way everyone was talking made Erza think that Shirou did more after she had left.

"Hey, Erza!"

Erza turned, catching Lucy making her way around several people before stopping right in front of her. "Lucy?"

"Mira said that jobs are available if you want to go on one. My rent is pretty high, so I'm going to have to go on one anyway. Would you like to go on a job?"

Erza stood silent a few seconds before nodding. "I'll go. Makarov told Emiya to take the next four days off, I will ask him if he'd like to come along as well."

"Huh?... O-oh! Yeah, sure!" Lucy stuttered before walking off and disappearing behind a crowd of anxious guild members.

* * *

The man leaned over the counter, waving as he spoke. "Have a nice day!"

Shirou nodded as he walked out of the hardware store. As strange as it was, Magnolia had several of those. Surprisingly, they had magic tools for construction, which seemed useful. Or not, considering that everyone either uses their bare hands or their magic for the repairs on the guildhouse.

Shirou sighed. Had he been nearly as powerful as the wizards here, maybe he could have saved more people during the Holy Grail War. He wouldn't have caused Rin or Saber any trouble and just maybe, he could have saved the master of Berserker who was slaughtered by Gilgamesh.

Placing the bags down, Shirou took a short rest before lifting them back up. Makarov asked him to buy some more nails. Normally, he'd have no problem, but these nails were almost a foot in length and he had to fill the bags to the brim. He didn't mind doing the chore, but certain injuries had yet to heal. Each bag weighed around thirty pounds, which stressed the fractures on his arms. The solution to this problem was to place the bags down and rest every time he felt a sharp pain, though it seemed to attract a lot of attention.

Walking through the next street, Shirou noticed something was off. The crowd seemed to dilute as he walked. He felt out of place. The buildings, while small, seemed to tower over his figure as caution flooded his mind. That was when he noticed the complete vacancy of this street. There were people further down and behind him, but this one block was completely vacant.

That was when it happened, an enormous purple sheet jumped out from one of the buildings ahead, connecting to the other. Turning around, Shirou saw the same happen with the two buildings far behind him, cutting off his access to the rest of society. The only openings were alley ways that led to less populated areas.

Red flags began raising in Shirou's head. It was obvious that someone was cutting off his access to the public eye.

Shirou dropped his grocery bags and turned on all of his circuits despite the pain he recieved. Reinforcing his body, Shirou snapped to the right and projected Bakuya in his right hand, catching a blade that was aiming for his head. He grunted at the force of the blow as he felt the fracture in his forearm grow. Ignoring the pain, he traced Kanshou in his left hand and performed a horizontal slash at his attacker who was still airborne.

Shirou felt a strong breeze as the attacker was thrown back past his range. His attack missed, but he got a better look at the offender. crouched on the ground in front of Shirou was a tall man dressed in purple robes. His face was covered by shadow that seemed out of place, even under the hood he was wearing.

Shirou didn't bother asking any questions. This man was hiding his face, so it was doubtful that he'd answer any of them.

The man stood to full height before leaning forward. A pulse of wind from behind was enough to send him flying at Shirou. His sword reflected sunlight as he raised it high above his head.

' _A wind mage?!_ ' Shirou thought to himself. Realizing that he couldn't block another blow without taking massive damage, Shirou met the long sword with Kanshou and did his best to redirect it as he sidestepped the man.

Now was his chance. After he created the opening, Shirou swung Bakuya at the figure only to be met with resistance. Something wrapped itself around Bakuya and pulled it away. Having lost precious time, Shirou instead kicked the man away before turning around and catching a glimpse of the new intruders.

Two more attackers had entered the fray. One large brute of a man, and the other was a woman of average size. The two were dressed in the same clothing as the first intruder.

Looking at the female attacker, Shirou saw her holding a long chain that dangled out of her hand. At the end of the chain, Bakuya swung around in its grasp. A closer look revealed a large sickle attached to the end, but it was wrapped firmly around Bakuya even as it tried to fly back to its other half.

Looking back at the original attacker, he saw the man flying his way. His legs reinforced to their maximum, Shirou jumped over the man, reaching a little over twenty feet into the air. Flipping upside down, Shirou threw Kanshou at the man's backside. The man turned around in time to minimize the damage. Using the same wind magic from before to push himself to the side, he recieved an inch deep graze on his arm from the falchion before it turned into motes of blue light.

Landing on his feet, Shirou saw the man gesture toward the brute and move aside. While in full view, the large man charge at Shirou, his steps slightly shaking the ground as he ran.

Being unable to lift anything heavy, let alone shoot his bow, Shirou projected several swords above his head, launching them at the ground in front of the large man in an attempt to stop him.

Instead of tripping over the swords like Shirou thought, the man shattered the blades on contact, never losing his original speed. Shirou had expected him to break the swords, but he had hoped that the man would fall over in doing so.

Deciding that he had to use more force, Shirou projected two more ordinary blades and launched them. He wasn't aiming for the ground this time. Instead, he aimed for the speeding brute.

One of the swords aimed for his shoulder as it flew. Raising his arm, the brute slapped the blade off course, causing it to fly behind him. What he didn't know was that the first sword was a distraction. Immediately after he slapped away the first sword, the second came in and impaled his foot, the only place out of reach from his long arms. The brute shouted in pain as he fell to the ground and tumbled forward.

Shirou took the initiative and ran at the other two intruders. Jumping over the still sliding brute, Shirou was met with the bladed tip of Bakuya attached to a chain. The weapon was making its way toward his vunerable chest as he ran. Much to the chain user's surprise, Bakuya vanished before it could make contact with Shirou.

While the chain was still out, Shirou traced Kanshou in his left hand and slashed off the bladed end of the chain. Before it could fall to the ground, he caught the chain still attached to the blade in his right hand. As ran, Shirou lugged the chain and blade at the man to the left, the one who attacked him first.

The blade spun in the air, reaching the man before stopping abruptly. Several waves of wind had managed to catch the blade and keep it away from the man. Grabbing the blade, the man raised his other arm which held the longsword.

' _He's changed to a more straight forward style_.' Shirou analyzed the man's stance. The position of his blades, placement of his feet, every movement and breath he made did not go unnoticed. His underdeveloped Eye of The Mind had allowed him to predict the man's first move from the practiced form of analysis.

The man lunged at Shirou with both blades raised. As he neared, he swung both blades diagonally.

Tracing Bakuya in his empty hand, Shirou jumped back and avoided the attack. Once the man's attack missed, Shirou threw Kanshou at him. Knowing that he'd dodge the falchion, Shirou occupied the man with Bakuya as he waited for its darker companion to return.

It didn't take more than three seconds for Kanshou to turn around and position itself for his back. Spinning in the air, the black falchion made enough noise to alert the target, causing him to turn around. It was too late; the falchion was an inch away from his chest.

*CLANG*

The sound of steel impacting steel interrupted the short moment of silence. Kanshou had been knocked off course by a chain. The owner the the weapon was diving for Shirou at this very moment, her weapon quickly wrapping around her knuckles. Kicking away his opponent, Shirou met her attack with the cloudy edge of Bakuya. The falchion had broken a few layers of her chain, but not enough to injure her hand. She was stronger than the first guy, that was for sure. Despite the fact that she hit the sword edge, the force of the attack made Shirou's bones creak, and his muscles tighten.

Seeing how her first attack failed, she went for Shirou's exposed gut with her other fist. What she didn't see was that Kanshou had returned to Shirou before then, allowing him to block her second attack with its side. With a more stable surface for her fist to collide with, every bone fracture in Shirou's body threatened to re-open then and there.

As the two continued to fight, the shaking of the ground did not go unnoticed to Shirou. Using all of the strength he could muster, Shirou forced his female offender away with the married blades. Turning to his right, Shirou spun the falchions into reverse grip with lightning fast speed. Crossing the blades over his chest, Shirou braced for impact.

A pained shout forced its way through closed teeth. The impact of the brute's charge had been enough to crack away the calcium between Shirou's fractures. The bones in his right forearm had been completely separated at the middle. Several ribs had cracked as he skid across the ground, kicking up dust and dirt.

Sliding to a halt, Shirou stood up as fast as he could. Surrounding him was all three of the attackers. Bakuya's tip was buried in the ground next to Shirou as Kanshou rested in his left hand. It was pretty much impossible to dual wield with his body like this.

The man in the middle; the man Shirou had fought first, had been making his way toward Shirou. His blade raised over Shirou's head as he stepped closer. Once he was in range, the blade fell.

* * *

Erza had stepped through the crowd of people, keeping an eye out for Shirou as she neared the hardware store. She had asked the Master where he had sent Shirou earlier, but that was nearly an hour ago, there was no telling where he could be now.

Through the mass of people, Erza could make out the appearance of the hardware store's sign. Stepping closer, she grasped the door handle and pushed.

"Welcome!" Shouted the man from behind the counter.

Erza nodded, getting closer to the counter before speaking. "Have you seen a red haired man here? He was probably buying some nails."

The man stroked his beard as he searched his mind for the description. Once the memory surfaced, the man had a look of recognition on his face. "Ah, yes. The boy let me keep the change. I kinda felt bad since he was injured, but he didn't seem to mind. You should have seen him carry the bags!" The man laughed with a deep and grizzly voice.

"Did you see where he went?" Erza asked, ignoring his last few statements.

"You're lucky he looked so funny, otherwise I wouldn't have watched him all the way out the store." Leaning over the counter, the large man pointed at the door. "He took a right after the exit."

Erza looked at the door, then back at the man. "Thank you."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Is he your brother?"

Erza sighed quietly. "No. He's my guild mate." Hopefully she wouldn't be hearing that question again anytime soon.

The man nodded. "Well good luck, little lady."

Leaving the store, Erza took a right and followed the directions. The direction was neither in place of the guild house or Shirou's inn, which implied that Shirou wasn't done running errands. If that were the case, he couldn't have gone far.

Increasing her pace, Erza noticed that the crowds began to thin. Straight ahead, she saw a purple tarp spread across two buildings. "Excuse me." Erza began, tapping on the shoulder of the nearest person. "Why is there a sheet in the street path?" She asked.

The person was an old lady who was out doing chores. Apparently, someone bought out all of the buildings in that area. There were rumors of them renovating the area to set up for a line of shops. That would definitely explain the sheets. They must be for construction, mainly to keep all of the dust out of residential areas.

Thanking the old woman, Erza took a right and went around the area. If you couldn't pass through the obstacle, then go around it. It still bothered her that someone would want to buy all of those buildings. It sounded like a poor marketing strategy, even if they were turning them into stores and shops.

As she walked around the side, Erza couldn't help but notice how far the buildings extended. ' _Who would have enough Jewel to buy all of those buildings?_ ' Erza stared in shock. Even some of the more rich guilds would have a hefty dent in their funds if they made such a purchase.

As she moved forward, Erza passed by building after building, watching them moved by as she kept on. Then, she saw a gap between the buildings. Despite the construction that was thought to be going on, they didn't cover the alley way.

Looking further into the opening, Erza saw the inside of the area. Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of the white Chinese falchion stabbed into the ground. ' _That's... Emiya's sword?_ ' Erza began walking into the dark alley, trying to think of why Shirou would be in such a place.

If Shirou were there, then why did he leave his sword? A sword meant combat, and combat meant danger. Especially for Shirou, who was still recovering. Breaking out into a full sprint, Erza turned the corner and caught a glimpse of several figures. Three people. One female, two male, two armed. In the center of the figures was Shirou. His right arm fell limp to the ground as he knelt. He was breathing heavily and what looked like blood and sweat stained his face.

"Emiya!" Erza shouted, gaining the attention of the attackers. Erza launched herself at the mystery wizards, cracking the ground as she flew at unrivaled speed. Holding out her arm, she summoned a sword into her hand.

The ordeal happened within a few seconds, making it hard to see. Erza deflected four different attacks all at once, then performed a powerful slash that threw the brute into one of the buildings. As she landed, Erza crouched low to the ground, extending her leg and sweeping the other male attacker off of his feet. Once he hit the ground, Erza used him as a launching pad to deliver an overhead slash to the female attacker.

' _Their faces were covered by an unnatural shade, it must be the robes, they could be magic items._ ' Erza thought to herself.

Turning around, she grabbed Shirou's less injured arm and pulled him back. Once he was far enough, she turned back around to face the attackers again. Brandishing another long sword, she spoke. "Emiya, stay behind me."

The male attacker used some sort of wind magic to lift himself from the ground. Using the same magic, he threw himself forward with his sword and sickle raised.

Erza shot up and met him in the air. Spinning around, she added more force to her attack. Using one sword to bat away his blades and the other to strike the man. Once his blades were away and he received a hit, it was enough to stagger him. Seeing as he was stunned, Erza hit him with a barrage of slashes which maintained her airtime somehow. Her final strike blasted him several meters away and into the ground.

As the female attacker approached, Erza raised her blades, parrying every attack from the mystery woman. She wasn't as strong as Erza expected. Had Shirou been in perfect health, he probably could have defeated all of the attackers without issue.

As soon as there was an opening, Erza took the opportunity and struck her opponent in the gut with her knee. The woman slouched, grabbing her stomach in attempt to alleviate the pain, which in turn, created another opening. Erza raised her sword, turning it to the side before striking the woman's head with the blunt surface. Any normal sword would have broken with the force that Erza used, but not one of Erza's swords were normal. It was durable enough to allow Erza to strike with enough force to send the woman's head into the ground. The speed at which she fell most likely meant that she'd have a concussion.

The brute had made it out of the wall by then and began running at Erza.

Throwing her swords into the ground beside her, Erza stood unmoving. As the brute approached, she shot forward and grabbed him by the neck and waist. Lifting him above her head, Erza threw him down to the ground. Her technique allowed her to maintain the momentum he had while running while adding her own. Landing on his back, the large man felt all of the air escape his lungs.

Erza was about to tie them up when the male attacker appeared and started another round. As she reached out to swipe at him, he jumped back, dodging the blade by an inch. His arm raised and his hand made a weird gesture. The other two attackers saw the gesture and stared for a while, as if they were considering something. Then, the brute nodded and walked over to his female companion. Lifting her over his shoulder, he knelt down. Shooting up at high speeds, the large man jumped over the buildings and made his escape.

' _They must have been contemplating abandoning their ally. That means they had some sort of bond._ ' Erza thought.

Shifting her focus back to the man, Erza raised her blades only for the man to drop his weapons. The man raised his hands up to his hood and removed it. The shadow left his face as the hood fell, revealing a middle aged man.

His hair was black with streaks of gray. The bags under his eyes coupled with the stubble implied that he hadn't slept for a while. His regretful eyes stared into Erza's before looking behind her, at Shirou. "You know," He began, his voice deep and gritty. "The boss really wants you dead."

"Boss?" Erza questioned. "What do you mean?"

The man ignored Erza and kept his gaze on Shirou, who was still kneeling on the ground behind Erza. "But I don't like the guy. He's arrogant and annoying." Reaching into his pocket, the man grabbed a small knife. "But I have a family, I can't afford to meet him alive." Before Erza could reach him, he held the knife to his throat. "I hope you win, kid." The drops of red soon became waves as he fell to the ground. His body quickly fell lifeless.

Erza stared wide eyed for a few seconds. Shaking off the shock, she turned back to Shirou. "Emiya, are you alright?"

"I'll be fine. I just broke some bones." Shirou spoke.

Erza's worried expression did not seem to fade. 'I just broke some bones' wasn't anything to make light of. Walking over to his side, Erza lifted him up by the waist. Throwing his arm over her shoulder and neck, she lifted him up. Time for another trip to the infirmary.

* * *

"So you have no idea who actually owned this area?" Gray asked, avoiding people who walked in opposite directions. The streets were busier after the ordeal. It was understandable, though. The buildings that were bought off were mostly inns.

The man shook his head. "No. If it really was a single person like you suspect, they most likely sent their lackeys to negotiate."

"Why do you say that?" Lucy asked.

Sighing, the ex-building owner spoke. "Because," he began, looking to the left and right. "As I was packing my things, I looked out the window and saw some men dressed in similar clothing. They were negotiating with the some of the other building owners. Some were away, but I assume they still managed to work out a deal."

Gray scratched the back of his head. "Do you know of any famous or rich person who might have had reason to do this?"

"Not anyone in Fiore. But it's most likely someone who doesn't want to be seen." The man then turned to face Gray and Lucy. "Now if you'll excuse me, young shirtless man, I've gotta go. I was payed rather generously and I'm about to go on a spending spree."

Once the stranger left, Lucy leaned against the wall. Her eyes closed and arms dangling at the side, she released an exasperated sigh. "Honestly... who would want to hurt Emiya? He's such a nice guy..."

"Whoever it is, they hate him enough to find out his city routes." Said Gray.

Opening her eyes, Lucy stared up at the sky as realization hit her. "But he hasn't even been here long enough to make enemies."

Gray shook his head. "Erza said that Emiya took down a dark guild some time ago. He left the guild because they were a branch from a larger guild. If I remember right, the branch he destroyed was a research guild."

Lucy pushed off the wall, standing up before she walked past Gray. "Do you think their guild master holds a grudge against Emiya?"

"That could be it." Said Gray. "But whoever it is, they shouldn't even know about Emiya."

"Oh well." Lucy said as she began walking away. "I'll check in with Natsu."

Gray nodded, watching Lucy's figure disappear after turning a corner. Her words replayed in his mind, 'Who would want to hurt Emiya?' Looking up at the blue sky, Gray's expression darkened. "That's exactly why this is a weird occurrence." Shrugging, he began making his way back to the guild.

* * *

 _"Emiya, you should come too." Erza spoke with confidence._

 _"Huh? Why?" Shirou asked._

 _Erza closed her eyes, a smile on her face. "After everything, it would be nice to relax. It will also be good for your injuries."_

 _Shirou scratched the back of his head, pondering over Erza's words. He was pretty sure that a spa actually wouldn't help that much with his injuries, but Erza seemed_ _to want him to go. "Alright, I guess I can go with you."_

 _"Wonderful, Emiya! Let us make haste!"_

Shirou sighed at the bright, and almost blue tinted moon in the sky. In all honesty, it would have made sense for him to come here since he went on the job with everyone. Despite the fact that Erza had asked him to come mainly so that he would cook lunch for them on their trip.

Shirou chuckled to himself. It was strange, the things he had seen here. This world was nothing like his own. He had soon found himself growing homesick, remembering the faces of his friends. Sakura, Rin, Taiga and even his servant, Saber. 'If only they were here, they'd like this place.' Though, Rin would like it here mainly for research purposes and Taiga and Saber would just eat all of the food. Sakura would have actually liked it here for more normal reasons.

Shirou shook his head. On second thought, it was actually good that he was the only one here. There would be no telling what would have happened to everyone if they were here during the battle against Phantom Lord. And there would be no telling how many more battles there would be.

*Boom*

Shirou jumped up. Standing to full attention, he made his way from the deck to the room of the inn.

"Natsu! Why you little..." Gray grabbed the pillow from his steaming face, tossing it aside.

' _A pillow fight? But why is his face full of scuff marks?_ ' Shirou thought to himself.

Gray turned to the right, his eyes growing wide when he spotted a pile of the small cylinder shaped pillows. "Wow, where'd all these pillows come from?" Gray asked, ignoring the fact that the pile of pillows coming from nowhere should have been raising red flags. Picking up two of the pillows, he delivered a warcry as he threw one of them at Natsu.

And then the pillow flew. It hit Natsu with a shock wave that knocked him onto his back.

Shirou's eyes momentarily widened. These were pillows and yet, they were being thrown like blocks of concrete. The fact that they could even throw them like that was a testimony to their strength.

Gray then threw another pillow, targeting Erza, but the red haired knight caught it in one hand.

"Not bad." Erza said as she clutched the fluffy pillow in her hand.

Lucy had tried joining in too... she must have had her eyes closed this whole time. Rolling up her sleeves, she reached for a pillow, only to be hit with three more and get knocked out of the inn along with the table and a few more objects.

Gray had taken a few hits from both Natsu and Erza, it seemed like the two were targeting him more than each other. Gray had turned around, catching sight of Shirou.

"Emiya, they're ganging up on me! I need some help!" Gray spoke with urgency in his voice.

If it was a normal pillow fight, Shirou would have laughed at Gray's attitude, but seeing the pillows when they impacted, he could understand.

Nodding, Shirou quickly reached down for one of the cotton filled cylinders. ' _I can't match that level of strength... but..._ ' Shirou's magic circuits flared to life.

Touching the pillow with two fingers, he muttered his usual phrase. " _Trace, on_." He used structural grasp first, reading the pillow's structure like a blueprint. Finding all of the gaps, he fed prana into them.

Standing to full height, Shirou reinforced his body as well. He stepped forward, using the momentum from his leg and carrying it to his arm as he threw the pillow with all of his strength.

The pillow flew slowly through the air, landing on Natsu's chest with a soft thud before falling to the ground.

Natsu began laughing.

"Emiya, what was with that weak throw?!" Gray shouted with a disappointed look on his face.

Shirou was about to apologize, however, a pillow toss from Erza had knocked the wind out of his stomach and thrown him out of the inn. Landing on the small wooden table that was thrown out with Lucy and breaking it in half. Luckily, his body was still reinforced and his kimono was pretty thick, he had felt only half of what he should have felt. The pillow fight itself was almost as if Gilgamesh himself loaded the Gate of Babylon with pillows.

Shirou sighed. If he ever got back home, he would never let Rin find out that he had performed Structural Grasp- Scratch that. Reinforcement on a pillow.

"Ah. Emiya, they got you too?"

Shirou nodded. Turning to the left, he spotted Lucy sitting on the grass nearby. "Yeah. Luckily I only took one hit." He said, recalling the moment Lucy was hit with three pillows. The girl was actually stronger than she looked.

Lucy sighed. "They really aren't the easy going types. So far, you're the only normal person I've met after I joined Fairy Tail."

Shirou chuckled, pushing himself off of the ground. "That might be an exaggeration." Shirou spoke, remembering that he was a distorted magus who fought a war against legendary beings in another world. Standing up, Shirou walked over to the deck before sitting at the edge.

"I don't think so." Lucy soon followed Shirou, although she sat away from the openings in the door, not wanting to get hit by a stray hypersonic pillow. After sitting, Lucy turned to Shirou, seeing his eyes focused on the sky, she grew curious. "Emiya, are you a stargazer?" She asked.

"I like looking at the sky at night, but I wouldn't go calling myself a 'stargazer'." Shirou replied, not looking away from the sky.

Lucy giggled. "I'm pretty sure that's what a stargazer is."

"I guess so." Shirou smiled, scratching the back of his head.

The fight going on behind had seemingly calmed down after a few minutes, the participants could be heard walking closer. Gray and Natsu seated themselves to the right of Shirou while Erza sat in the gap between Lucy and Shirou on the left. Surprisingly, none of them were really exhausted.

"That was fun! We should do it again sometime!" Natsu yelled.

Happy came around Natsu, sitting down at the ledge. "Are you sure about that, Natsu? You got beaten pretty badly."

"Oh yeah?! What about you? You were done in right after Shirou!" Natsu growled.

Happy maintained his innocent expression. "But that's normal. I'm small, so it makes sense that I wouldn't last." Happy said, his wings appearing and taking him into the air as he continued bickering with Natsu.

"That was intense." Gray sighed. "It would have been over sooner if Emiya had stronger arms."

Shirou scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, I'm not very strong." He chuckled nervously It was a little embarrassing that Happy had outlasted him in the pillow fight, but it was probably due to his small stature that everyone kept missing him.

Erza stared at Shirou from the side, her eyes narrowing for a moment. "Well, I suppose that you were mistaken in reinforcing the pillow."

Everyone looked to Erza, their expressions dumbfounded. However, after a few seconds, Shirou was the first to speak up. "You always find new ways to impress me, Erza." Shirou said, his words creating even more confusion.

Erza smiled, her eyes closed as she recalled the events. "When we had first met, you offered to reinforce my dessert. I was confused at first, but then you explained. 'If I reinforce a sword, it not only becomes more durable, but sharper too. It not only makes things more durable, but effective in their respective fields.' When you threw the pillow at Natsu, the impact was weak even by normal standards, almost as if the pillow was softer and more comfortable than normal."

Despite Erza's dense moments, she was incredibly intelligent. If Shirou ever had to fight Erza, he wasn't confident in his victory. Her abnormally high strength, skill and intellect made for a terrifying warrior.

After few more minutes of staring at the night sky, Gray let out a yawn. "Well, I'm gonna hit the hay." Standing up, he turned around and walked into the inn.

"Me too." Lucy had also stood up, moving into a separate room.

After arguing with Happy over whether or not Shirou could reinforce fire, Natsu also began to get sleepy. "Well, see you guys in the morning."

Natsu walked into the room he and Gray were sharing. Happy, who was trailing behind, stopped for a moment and turned back around. "Goodnight guys." His feline mouth somehow shaped a grin as his eyes narrowed. Raising his paw to the side of his mouth, he began whispering. "Don't get too frisky, Emiya's still inj-" The feline's last few words went unheard as he was seemingly picked up and tossed into Natsu's blankets.

A glance to his left told Shirou that Erza had no intention of sleeping soon. Thinking that she was staying up to keep an eye on him, Shirou was about to wish her a goodnight when she spoke first.

"Emiya." She said softly, not removing her eyes from the stars above.

"What is it, Erza?" Shirou asked.

"What was it like where you're from?"

"Where I'm from?" Did she even know where he was from? When they met, she thought he was lying to her. Not only that, he never had a cover story. As far as Erza was concerned, he was from 'the east'. She never asked anything specific and he never told her.

Erza nodded. "Fuyuki."

Shirou was surprised. He honestly didn't think Erza would have remembered something he told her so long ago. "It was nice there. There was a river that separated the city into two sections. And every time the cherry blossoms bloomed, there would be some petals in the water." Shirou continued, sounding nostalgic as he spoke. "There were some hills you could go on to get an overview of the city. It was great seeing the lights in the city from that high."

Erza's expression saddened. The way Shirou described his home made his sound homesick. "It sounds wonderful."

Shirou nodded. "I had some good times there."

Shirou's last statement leaving a few moments of silence, Erza decided to up. "What was your family like?"

"Well," Shirou began. "I was adopted."

Erza's focus shifted from the moon, her shock at Shirou's announcement was apparent.

"But I've already told you about Kiritsugu." Shirou waited, giving Erza a few seconds to overcome the surprise. "After Kiritsugu died, someone else would stop by my house to watch over me. Her name was Taiga."

"And she was your guardian?" Erza asked.

Shirou nodded. "Though, it really felt like I was the one taking care of her." He chuckled. "She was like a big sister to me..."

The two remained silent as they spectated the idle sky. The sound of the crickets coupled with the cool breeze and moonlight set a beautiful atmosphere. Sadly, it was a little over 1:00 A.M. and the both of them were getting tired.

Standing up, Shirou raised his arms to stretch. "Well, it's getting late. We should get some sleep."

Erza stood up as well. "Agreed."

The both of them walked over to their respective rooms, Erza stopping before she opened the door.

"Goodnight, Emiya."

Shirou smiled. "Goodnight, Erza."

* * *

 **I'm getting chapter six flashbacks... AFAHAGJREW! Let's forget about chapter six, it doesn't exist until I renovate it.**

 **No, seriously though, don't bring up chapter six. Chapter six is my trauma... I hate it so much, yet somehow it got the most reviews.**

 **Though, that last interaction was SO forced. Anyway, we got off topic there. I hope the fight scenes were comprehensible.**

 **Also, I have a question of my own. "Does UBW Shirou have the sword healing factor?" I was told that it was exclusive to HF Shirou since Archer's arm had overwritten Avalon.**

 **And for those of you asking, I was told that Avalon had innate healing abilities without Saber, but just slight. Your reactions have made me doubt this, so I'd like some confirmation.**

 **Now on to the reviews!**

* * *

 **DeMightyLubu Said: I like the premise of this story and where it's going, but your character interaction seems forced. I suggest u get an honest beta or just a family member/friend to read your works and give their opinion. Some characters are slightly ooc, but about 70% of the time they're in character. I've noticed that your writing is semi-inconsistent, once again I suggest you get a beta reader. A beta reader will help you stay more consistent and spot mistakes easier. Other than that? Great job, and good luck.**

 **Dal: Nooo... Oh well, it can't be helped so I'll just spill the beans. I have a curse that causes me to unknowingly analyze the writing structure of things I read and mimic them. Basically, If I want to utilize this curse to be a good writer, I have to read Harry Potter and that'll never happen.**

 **Also, I had a beta reader, but he became the Flash and he now defends the city.**

* * *

 **alexkellar Said: Well, I suppose the world accepts the magic of Shirou as something natural, so that the reinforcement used with the wood not only disappears and the whole guild falls on their heads, haha.**  
 **what I found strange is that everyone calls Shirou 'Emiya' knowing how relaxed they are in Fairy Tail,**  
 **but now that I remember, he introduced himself as Emiya Shirou, but he never tried to correct them ... Ok, now I hope to see what happens when they notice it!**  
 **Keep up the good work!**

 **Dal: Wait... reinforcement wears o- I mean, yeah! this was definitely part of the plan, I meant to do that.**

 **And the name thing will come up eventu- I mean, "What name thing?"**

* * *

 **Guest Said: "As Shirou pivoted his arm to pull the bowstring back, he heard a bone chilling crunch. Like breaking several sticks of celery at once, no, more like wood. But what was worse was the source of the noise, inside of his own body. He could feel objects protruding from his body, a few bone shards sticking out from his skin."**  
 **Oh God that description makes me sick**  
 **You are a great writer**

 **Dal: Really? Nah, it's probably just this website. You might just be desensitized. Or maybe I'm the sick one!**

 **Thanks for the compliments by the way.**

* * *

 **Kayen1024 Said: It was good chapter but sometimes I felt a bit confused on the descriptions of the battle.**

 **Dal: I am so sorry for this...**

* * *

 **FireFox614 Said: This was so much better, I really need to restart Fairy Tail, cuz I don't remember everything, my boi here needs to be on a team with Erza, it'll be glorious.**

 **Will his Aria for UBW eventually change to "I am the bone of my sword"? because I like that so much more, but don't get me wrong his Japanese one is pretty good too, but there's just a solemness in this one that conveys who "Emiya Shirou" is, his being is that of a sword, not just his body but his mind and soul has the very meaning of "Sword"**

 **Ready for some more dude...or dudette, I don't judge**

 **Dal: It depends. Archer's first aria line translated into Japanese is the same as Shirou's. And the first line of Shirou's aria is the same as Archer's. So it really just depends on what the readers want. Maybe I'll open a poll and ask.**

 **Also, you should judge. It's how you know whether or not I'm a dinosaur spy from another dimension.**

* * *

 **Good job Said: It is so refreshing to be able to read such a high quality fanfiction. I love how you're slow with the information leaks. I have read so many crappy crossover fanfictions where character A just spills all their innermost secrets the second they meet character B.**

 **It be like "I'm the demonborn, I have the soul of demon inside of me, the church has been hunted me forever, and I've had to slaughter hundreds of people to stay alive" Like seriously fuck you dude, who talks like that, and the other side is just like mildly surprised for a few seconds then everything goes back to normal.**

 **So like seriously good job, it feels realistic, like this is what would actually happen if the character were to crossover. He's acting like a human being, not the summary of wiki page.**

 **Dal: Oh stop it, you!... Yeah, I agree with the whole information thing. I was very adamant about not just revealing everything from the start. Things will be revealed at a rather slow pace.**

* * *

 **Dcraus Said:** **Fate stay night and akame ga kill crossover**  
 **Karna become Akame's servant**  
 **fighting against Heroic Spirits are impossible.**  
 **Karna is the Hero of Charity he does not hate or resentment towards anyone but he pities them.**  
 **Akame will have the dream cycle memories of Karna's past life to see what kind of person he is.**  
 **The bond between Karna and Akame will be a brother and sister relationship.**  
 **good luck DalSlatyr**

 **Dal: Wait, what? I've seen you before! You've requested for this for a gazillion other authors! I'll tell you what, Dal hyphen Slatyr is no sellout! Good day, fine sir!**

* * *

 **MiracleHero40 Said: Oh joy. Another shitty Fate crossover.**

 **Dal: Well someone's not getting a cookie. I'm not naming names, but his name is MiracleHero40 and he reminds me of Hanzo from Overwatch.**

 **MiracleHero40: Where Shirou Emiya is turned into a Mary Sue that wins every battle with ease.** **This is just another shitty fanfic for worshipping Shirou Emiya to hell. This is basically just a bashing fic where Shirou Emiya is wanked to hell and dishonors the Shimada clan.**

 **Dal: Hold up, the "Wank", as nasty of a term that is, was accidental. I had a bad grasp on Shirou's prana supply, which led to this whole ordeal, so Shirou is stronger, but still weaker than most of the characters.**

 **MiracleHero40: while all the Fairy Tail characters are massively downplayed.**

 **Dal: No.**

 **MiracleHero40: Shirou has never used Rho Aias to block an laser that can destroy towns and cities. In Fate Stay Night, Shirou struggled to stop a couple of swords piercing through his shields. A much stronger Archer EMIYA barely stopped a small explosion.**

 **Dal: So the pot calls the kettle black! (Either that saying makes no sense, or I didn't use it right.) You accuse me of massively downplaying FT characters and then you proceed to massively downplay the Fate characters.**

 **The "Couple of swords" so happened to be around fifty high class noble phantasms being launched at hypersonic speeds from the Gate of Babylon!**

 **The "Small explosion" you mentioned happened to be Gae Bolg, the legendary spear which reverses cause and effect to cheat its way into an enemy's heart. It is the "Concept of absolute piercing"**

 **"Rho Aias" The poor pink flower shield that you seem to hate so much is the "Concept of absolute defense" which stopped Gae Bolg completely. And yes, it can defend against "An laser"**

 **MiracleHero40: But because you want Shirou to be god like Mary Sue. Shirou gets godlike power to defeat everything in this fanfic. Meanwhile this fanfic is complete insult to all Fairy Tail fans.**

 **Dal: Whoa, man. Calm down, you can't just speak for each and every Fairy Tail fan out there. (Especially me). You can't just say that without seeing the future chapters. I mean, unless you're psychic. And if you are psychic, you would cry because the future chapters are beautiful. Also, can you tell me my fortune?  
**

 **MiracleHanzo40: Why did you even bother making a crossover. Its obvious to anyone with common sense. That this fanfic is just glorified excuse to wank Shirou Emiya and ignore everyone else. Why not just make regular Fate Stay Night fanfic. Instead of you making a crossover which is just insulting to FT fans. The FT characters are just there so you can aggrandize Shirou to hell. You could have used a regular fate stay night fanfic or crossover with anything else and it wouldn't have a difference to this fanfic you made.**

 **Dal: The FF community is so wild... But no, really. You just repeated most of what you said up there. This wall of text is wasting my bold letter count, I had to delete some reviews just to make your name bold. Really, the Doc Editor really didn't want to make your name larger... I wonder why?...**

 **MiracleHero40 Said: This is worst fanfic I have ever seen.**

 **Dal: Hold my beer... I don't drink... Hold my cotton candy soda. (Wow that sounded so bad).  
**

* * *

 **Anyway, I'd like to thank you all for reading this nonsense. I'm sorry for being gone for too long. I'm also sorry that Hanzo snaked his salt into the review section, you guys deserve a Genji instead. I apologize dearly.**

 **Remember to stay hydrated and don't forget to do the dishes after dinner.**

 **-Dal**


	9. The End of The Line

**ATTENTION: I, Dal, have somehow forgotten about something very important. If I remember correctly, I never told you about the contest thing. This story was made because Alex Kellar issued a contest on Deviantart.**

 **I however, managed to tie for first place with another author, Dunedan. Who wrote "To Emulate a Fake", a Fate/RWBY crossover. You should read it, it was great.**

 **But I also wanted to attribute credit to Mr. Kellar. This story wouldn't exist without him, he even made art of it on his page, go check it out if you have the time.**

 **Honestly, it's a miracle that I did tie for first, I barely followed the rules. Actually, the whole theme thing came in later, but I didn't have time to write it in. Oh well, can't do much about it.**

 **Anyway, thank you for reading this long, and no, I'm not dead. I was gone for a while because immediately after I escaped the first chain of unfortunate events, another one happened right after. I might still be busy, but I don't know, so I won't brag about escaping this time.**

 **Also, it has come to my attention that people think Shirou is incredibly weak here. Firstly: He's injured. Secondly: He can't just pull out an OP Noble Phantasm in EVERY fight, because if it doesn't work, he just threw himself out of commission from the strain.**

 **So, enjoy the read... and be disappointed... because this chapter is weird... Also, the sword healing factor is a thing now... I'm writing it into the story... I love you guys... platonically... but surely...**

 **Also, how do I have 1000 follows, 777 favorites and 240 reviews?! You guys are insane!  
**

* * *

"Trace..." The image of Kanshou popped into his mind as he held out his left arm. "On!" The flash of blue light dyed the area around as it condensed into the form of a Chinese falchion. The newly formed copy of Kanshou lay still in his hand. Taking in a breath, Shirou obliterated the blade and replaced it with a new one. Again, he commanded the next sword to disappear and soon replaced it with a new one. With each blade he summoned, he would cast Reinforcement on it before it dissipated.

The casting speed of both spells weren't as fast as he'd like them to be. ' _He_ ' was leagues above Shirou even now. What he gained in his battle against Archer had allowed him to cheat his way through decades of training. It even allowed Shirou to gain many of his skills and abilities to a certain extent. But it wasn't enough for what fate had in store for him.

A lot of Fairy Tail's members were still stronger than him. They were each capable of launching attacks of mass destruction, had large magic capacity and recovered from life threatening injuries in mere days, and sometimes even hours. Not that Shirou had never recovered from such injuries, but he had a feeling that his circumstances were special back then. Now, his injuries healed fast, but not like they did during the Grail War.

Pausing his miniature training session, Shirou rolled onto his back. Taking in deep breaths, he raised his arm and gazed at the bandages. His exhaustion wasn't really physical, but he was lacking there as well. His stamina was mediocre at best and his base strength was considerably low. He couldn't afford to fight drawn out battles with his body being only above average in condition, let alone right now when it was injured. He wasn't able to fight completely like Archer due to the fact that he tired out easily. Because of this weakness, Shirou always had to try his best to end fights sooner, which came at risks. It was never the ideal style in most scenarios.

And now, having nearly been defeated by three mid-tier wizards highlighted his weaknesses. He had realized that he couldn't defeat them in his condition during the battle, so his last ditch plan was to use the moment the man was about to execute him as an opening. His timing would have to be razor sharp to play out such a plan, but timing was one of his strong-suits. Luckily, he didn't have to go through with the suicidal plan since Erza had shown up to save him.

It would have been great if he defeated them though. Sure, his circuits were exhausted from the last battle and his body was still heavily injured, but that was nothing compared to what he saw in Archer's memories. The alternate version of himself had fought in battles where resting even for a moment meant death, even with a severely injured body and low mana. It wasn't like Archer normally fought in such conditions, but there were occasions.

Shirou, comparing himself to... himself, had actually began to feel disheartened. And comparing himself to the magi of Earthland, who weren't even servants didn't help. Sighing, Shirou pushed himself off the ground. "Was this how he felt in comparison to other servants?..." No, that wasn't the case... Archer utilized his overwhelming battle experience combined with his knowledge and dirty tricks to stand his ground. He did do quite a number on Caster after all. Despite Archer's low magic resistance, it wasn't a great match up for the female servant. Still, Archer was too smug for a third-rate servant.

To Shirou, gaining even a glimpse of Archer's experience gave him a huge advantage, even if it was just a glimpse. But most knowledge he gained from those experiences wouldn't help in Earthland and he'd only tread so far in the field of playing dirty since he didn't want to kill his opponents if he could help it.

Though there was something Archer did that would help here, a training guideline that Shirou would be sure to copy. In his lifetime, Archer had only focused on strengthening what he was already good at. Never devoting time into strengthening his weaknesses. Something Rin would definitely scold him over endlessly. And something that would certainly help Shirou as of right now.

Remembering that it's actually dangerous to exercise while healing, Shirou had decided to train in the field of Magecraft for now. Training his magecraft to increase efficiency and capability were his goals in the long run. Knowing that it would take several years to do so wasn't really discouraging. After all, he grew up believing in hard work and it would show in his actions.

Sitting back down, he hardened his resolve. He would get as strong... no, stronger than Archer one day. Even if it takes him decades. Extending both of his arms, blue streaks lights began forming behind him. This time, he would practice maintaining several projections at once.

* * *

It was a rather nice day. Construction on the guild house was almost finished, Shirou got to cook and everyone was happily going about their day. It was amazing to see how quickly they all recovered after the battle against Phantom Lord.

' _It seems like Fairy Tail is a guild with a lot of heart._ ' Shirou thought as he cleaned the countertop in Mirajane's absence. Despite being back at the guild house, it didn't quite feel the same. It probably had to do with the absence of Team Natsu.

After spending a night at an inn near the public bath, Lucy had drawn closer to Loke, one of the more elusive members of the guild. A day later, everyone found out that he was the celestial spirit Leo, who was undergoing a punishment for killing his old master. Lucy managed to contract with him and save him from his impending doom, but he still had to go back to the celestial spirit world for rest. But before he left, he gave team Natsu tickets to a resort somewhere. Unfortunately, he only had four, so Shirou couldn't go. Not that he wanted to, but Erza and Natsu seemed to be a little bit down about that fact, mainly because they just wanted to eat some more of his cooking.

In fact, before they left, Natsu had persistently tried to convince Shirou to reinforce a cup of fire for him. On top of that, Natsu had also tried to get him to agree to a fight once they got back. Now that Shirou got to think about it, Natsu was a pretty weird guy. He'd fit in just fine with Heroic Spirits, but he was human, so it was strange to behave in such a way.

Then again, Heroic Spirits were humans at one point as well.

"You're Emiya, right?!"

Looking up from the well shined counter top, Shirou spotted two female guild members approaching. "Yes, can I help you?"

"We'll have two glasses of water, please." One of them asked.

Shirou nodded before turning around and walking to the cupboard. Grabbing two medium sized mugs, he placed one under a barrel tap and raised the small tab. After filling the first mug, he moved on to the second and returned with two full cups of water. Placing them on the counter top in front of the two girls, he showed a polite smile and asked, "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, the water is enough. Thanks." Said the one on the left.

As Shirou was about to leave his post and return to the kitchen, one of them called out to him, causing him to stop.

"We saw what you did the other day. Against that shadow, it was so cool!"

Turning around, Shirou gave a half hearted smile. "It wasn't that great." He said, attempting to diffuse the situation. He didn't really like receiving praise.

"What are you talking about? It was amazing, you must be a high tier wizard, right? You could come with us on jobs, they really get hard sometimes."

"No... I don't think I would be of any use..." Shirou didn't really know what to do right now. They would probably be disappointed if they found out that he wasn't actually that great of a wizard/magus. The strain from using Caliburn tore a lot of muscles and fractured many of the bones in his arms. Even now, his circuits, which usually recovered in a day at least, were still a little hot. However, he would rather be in this much pain than receive any more praise.

"Actually, we hav-"

"Goodness, ladies. Stop hitting on the chef."

Looking past the girls, Shirou saw the source of the new voice.

The two girls had also turned back, catching a glimpse of the person before apologizing to Shirou and leaving.

"I kind of feel bad for them..." Shirou spoke, earning a look of disbelief from the newcomer. "Thanks, Cana."

Nodding, Cana sat down on the previously occupied stool. "You shouldn't feel bad, Emiya. They were planning on using you to make money."

"They were?" Shirou questioned, reaching for a mug.

"Remind all of your friends to never leave you alone." Cana quipped as she watched Shirou fill the mug with alcohol.

Shirou always paid attention to how people around him behaved. Cana had been a regular at the bar since before Shirou had arrived, and the fact that he was able to learn her tastes so quickly was convenient for her. It was also how he knew to hand her the mug directly, rather than place it on the table. She preferred to drink as soon as possible.

"Is there anything else, I can get you?" Shirou asked.

"Come on, Emiya. You've worked here long enough to know the answer to that question." Cana replied.

"I can't help it, it's protocol." Shirou sighed. Closing his eyes momentarily, he recalled the countless times he served Cana the same types of drinks. Not once had he seen her eat anything, it was like she lived on alcohol.

Tilting the mug over her head, Cana opened her mouth and emptied the contents of the mug within a second. Slamming the mug down onto the counter, she let out a loud breath and looked up at Shirou. "So where are we headed after this?"

Reaching out to grab the empty mug, Shirou froze as he processed what she had just said. Cana, however, took the opportunity to slide the mug an extra few inches into his open hand. "What are you talking about?"

Pointing at the emptied mug, Cana gestured for Shirou to refill it as they talked, and only then did she continue. "The master asked Team Shadow Gear and I to watch you for the time being."

"It sounds like something he would do..." Shirou groaned as he handed Cana the replenished mug. It made sense since Team Natsu, the strongest team in the guild who usually spent a lot of time with Shirou, was now unable to be around him. It was the perfect time for the dark guild to strike again. "It's fine, you guys don't have to do that."

"No offense, Emiya, but you're not exactly a capable fighter in your current condition." Cana said before downing the second cup of alcohol. "And... I kind of owe you one."

Shirou knew the nature of the guild, most of the members wouldn't take no for an answer if given the opportunity. Still, he didn't approve. It was too dangerous, he couldn't just get them caught up in the matter. Nevertheless, he had no choice but to rely on them until he recovered. A week at most was all he needed for his injuries. He wouldn't be completely healed in that time, but he'd be more confident in his fighting abilities.

The sound of an empty mug hitting the counter top snapped Shirou out of his thoughts.

"Refill, please." Asked(?) Cana.

Shirou sighed before taking the empty mug. "Seriously, I wish you would drink less. It's not healthy."

Cana grinned as she watched Shirou replenish the mug. "Just be glad I didn't buy the whole barrel." She poked, imagining the currently injured Shirou carrying a barrel of wine from the storage center with the pace of a small snail.

Shirou cringed. It still shocked him that she could even drink that much. The barrels were larger than her stomach and she never went to the bathroom before finishing one, so how did she do it? Was it magic? Thinking about it, a lot of the things people did around here reminded him of the cartoons Taiga used to watch. The things he saw around here just weren't normally possible back in his world.

"I don't think it'd matter if you're just drinking a barrel's worth one cup at a time." Shirou spoke as he repeated his previous bar tending actions.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard coming several feet from behind. Coming closer, the source of the steps took a seat beside Cana.

"I agree with Emiya on this one." Said a familiar voice.

Turning around, Shirou handed Cana her third cup. "Ah, Levy. Can I get you anything?" He asked.

"Just water for me." Levy replied before placing her book down on the table.

Shirou turned around once again, on his way to the cupboard to grab another mug for Levy. "So if you guys are going to follow me around, where are you going to stay?"

"Hmm?" Levy tilted her head in confusion.

"I sleep at the inn which is pretty far from here," Shirou flicked the tap back up once the wooden mug filled completely. "You two sleep at Fairy Hills." Handing the mug to Levy, he took Cana's back for a fourth refill.

"That's easy," Cana began. "Levy and I will rent a room across the hall at the same inn, and Jet and Droy can rent the one next door."

Shirou was a little bit startled at how far they went with this. The fact that they knew the rooms near his own were unoccupied told him that they had intent to carry this plan out. "Even so, the rent at Fairy Hills is kind of expensive, and they'll charge you the same monthly fee even if you don't occupy your room for a while."

Cana narrowed her eyes at Shirou as she placed the mug back onto the countertop. "Emiya... how do you know these things about Fairy Tail's female dormitory?" She questioned, blatant concern present in her voice.

Raising his hands, Shirou took a step back and attempted to diffuse the situation. "It's not what you think!" He began. Yet, his brief few words did nothing to quell the suspicion from Cana or the worry from Levy. Regaining his composure, Shirou managed to deliver a more detailed explanation. "Erza told me about what it was like being an official member of Fairy Tail during her last job, the story just happened to include your dormitory."

Levy at least seemed to relax, but it was Cana who still seemed a little cautious.

"At the very least, we won't even be watching you for very long. So don't worry about the cash, alright?" Levy said before taking a sip of her beverage.

"Alright." Regardless, Shirou couldn't bring himself to accept that considering they were doing this on his behalf. "If that's the case, I'll pay for your rooms."

Hearing this, Cana nearly choked on her wine, which by the way, was an unpleasant feeling. She was hoping Shirou would just leave it alone, but it was obvious by now that it wasn't in his nature to do something like that. "No offense, Emiya, but you aren't exactly doing well financially."

Despite the looks Shirou was receiving from the two, he shook his head as to reject Cana's notion. "I usually spend the money I make on rent, nothing else. And the master paid me extra for repairing some of the unsalvageable materials during the construction. I have more than enough Jewel to accommodate for all of you." Looking back, he remembered how he tried to reject the extra cash from Makarov. Fortunately, the old man had forced him to take the Jewel and it came in handy right now.

"Um..." Levy stuttered. Under normal circumstances, she would have said no, but Shirou didn't look like he was going to change his mind. Honestly, she didn't even know what to say.

"You're a really convincing person, Emiya." Cana sighed. He didn't even leave much room for negotiation, and she didn't try. Oh well. "Guess we'll have to take you up on that offer."

Nodding, Shirou picked up the towel... only to put it back down when Cana requested another refill. "My shift ends in four more hours, I'll meet you tw-" Looking at Cana and then back at the mug, Shirou realized that his previous statement was poorly phrased. "Cana and I will meet you outside once my shift is over."

Once the plan had been agreed upon, Levy said her goodbyes. Finishing her water, she grabbed her book from the table and walked away.

After bringing Cana yet another refill, Shirou had turned his attention to the ring of water Levy's cup left on the countertop. 'I guess I did fill it too high.' He thought to himself, grabbing the towel again. As he reached over to wipe the counter.

Now that he had the towel, there were other things that needed cleaning. Like the cupboard... and the other cabinets... the sink faucet was looking a little grimy too... he only had the towel, but the floor wasn't looking too great either, and it wouldn't really be a bother to get the broom.

Nodding to himself, Shirou decided on his next course of action. He'd have to make it quick, though. Mirajane almost never let him clean. Insisting that he did too much already, she would always finish the job before he had any chance to participate.

He was about to start cleaning when he realized that Cana should have finished her drink moments ago. On that note, should he clean at all, Cana would be making it difficult.

Turning around, he saw Cana staring at him, a contemplative expression on her face. An action that was accompanied with a rare moment of silence. Surprisingly, she didn't ask for a refill despite the mug being empty.

It took her a while, but she finally snapped out of it and noticed him staring back. "Is something wrong, Emiya?"

Furrowing his brows, Shirou shook his head. "No, I'm fine. You?" He asked, receiving a nod back in response. Strangely enough, she was still staring at him even after the small ordeal. He tried ignoring it as he finished cleaning the countertop, but it was just too noticeable. He had a feeling that she wouldn't tell him what it was even if he asked, but if there was a chance that it was something important, he'd need to know.

"Cana." Shirou spoke, the seriousness in his tone almost startling her. "Is there something on your mind?"

Cana, still staring, lowered her gaze to Shirou's forearm before squinting, only to look back at his face, "No." She spoke abruptly, shifting her focus to the beverage in front of her. Lifting the mug, she downed all of the wine, not even bothering to taste it. Placing the mug down gently, Cana stood up, causing the stool she was seated in to slide back. "It's getting late, I should go and prepare for later. Thanks for the service, Emiya."

Staring at Cana's retreating figure, Shirou sighed. Raising his arm, he stared at the bandages, peeking out from the sleeve of his baseball shirt. Maybe she felt guilty for his injuries? Shirou shook his head and lowered his arm. 'No one would be dense enough to take the blame for something like this.'

Hearing footsteps to the left, Shirou turned to find Mirajane making her way back. The girl waved and smiled, a gesture Shirou returned before making his way back to the kitchen.

* * *

Cana had finished packing a few things for her stay at the inn, not much, but just enough clothes for a few days. After that, she returned to the guild to pick up Shirou... or that's what she thought up until now. Once she got back, Shirou asked both her and Shadow Gear to wait a while for him.

The four had seated themselves on the bar stools as they waited for him. He had retreated into the kitchen immediately after he made the request, no one really knew what he was doing, but they could hear several loud clanks and clashes which, without a doubt, came from cooking.

As hard as it was, Cana had to refrain from ordering any wine for the rest of the day. It was a shame; Mira was bar-tending once again, which meant that she could order a large barrel of her favorite alcoholic substance. But if Shirou were going to finish soon, and if they had to actually protect him, then she wouldn't have the time to drink in such large quantities.

And then, just as she was moping, the noises from the kitchen stopped.

The sudden silence had caught the attention of everyone around; even Mirajane, who wasn't really involved. The five had their eyes glued to the door as the pitter patter of footsteps drew closer. The moment the door budged open, everyone stood still in a fit of confusion.

long and wide boxes stacked on top of each other emerged from the kitchen. Underneath the neatly organized mess was none other than Shirou himself, taking slow and careful steps forward. Taking momentary pauses, Shirou eventually made it to the countertop and placed the boxes down.

Curiosity filled to the brim, Cana couldn't help but ask, "Emiya, what are those?" Leaning in closer, she could smell a heavenly scent leaking out of the cracks of the boxes.

"They're several family sized meals." He replied.

Before she, or anyone could question Shirou further, he looked to the group and threw out a question.

"Sorry, but since you're all following me, can I ask for some help?"

Looking over at Levy and the rest, Cana stood up from her seat, "Sure." She replied before extracting a small stack from the pile of boxes.

Levy, Jet and Droy naturally followed and took their own share of the stack. Jet and Droy purposefully taking more so that Shirou would be left will a minor load. They claimed that it was because he was injured, but Cana suspected that they merely wanted to impress Levy. Though, if that were the case, they'd have to do better. Shirou had carried all of them with two complete fractures on both his Ulna and Radius... ' _On that note: how did he manage to do that?_ ' Cana thought to herself. The amount she grabbed was pretty heavy itself. Combined with the rest, it would have to be unbearable with an arm injury.

Cana shrugged as she followed Shirou out of the guild house. He was a rather high-tiered wizard after all; maybe he left all the weight on the uninjured arm and used the injured one for balance correction. Still though, it had to hurt at least a little.

Despite the fact that she had several remaining questions, Cana refrained from asking any of them. Instead, she settled for following Shirou in silence. And it was the silence that allowed her to focus on the surrounding buildings.

'Run down' was all she had to describe them.

"Hey, Emiya?" Levy called out.

"Yeah?"

"I got the books you asked for."

"Ah, thanks Levy." Shirou spoke, keeping his attention on the path ahead. "I'll pay you back once we can put these down."

' _Books?_ ' Cana couldn't remember the last time she saw Shirou with a book. Then again, she didn't spend much time with him.

Deciding that it wasn't important, Cana just stayed silent and followed the group.

As they strolled through the street, the houses gradually appeared more dilapidated with each one passed.

It wasn't until the first few blocks in that Jet had broke the silence, "Um... hey, Emiya. Where are we headed?" He asked, a tinge of fear underlying his tone.

"To see some friends." Shirou replied.

' _Just what kind of friends does Emiya have?_ ' Cana thought, ' _Scratch that, why was he hanging out in this part of town?_ ' Cana narrowed her eyes as she burrowed deeper into the less savory part of town. If she were in a poor neighborhood, carrying boxes of food past several houses in said neighborhood... she felt like a terrible person.

The small journey went on for what felt like an hour, but was more like twenty minutes. Walking for so long while holding heavy boxes instilled a state of boredom into everyone (save for Levy), one that was short lived. As Cana was about to ask, Shirou had stopped at the front step of a large building in the middle of a clearing in the street.

Five large worn out concrete steps led to a tall wooden door. In front of the stone building were huge clusters of flowers, which connected to the sides of the steps. The actual building itself was made of cobblestone and wood. Resting on top was a dark red tiled roof. The two large windows on either side of the building was packed full of faces. Faces that appeared to be eagerly staring at the group of five.

"Um... Emiya?" Cana started, backing up slowly. Soon after, the others also took a step back, the sight proving to be more than disturbing.

Then, Shirou, who seemed to be unfazed by the building, walked up the steps. The clacking sound of his shoes went silent as he appeared on the tallest step in front of the door. Moving the boxes onto his right arm, Shirou extended his injured left arm to knock on the wooden door.

However, before his clutched hand could make contact with the chipped wooden frame of the door, it flew open.

"Shirou!" Shouted several small voices.

"C-" Cana stood still in a brief state of surprise, "Children?"

Like a pack of ravenous wolves, several children ranging from the ages of three and eight charged into Shirou and wrapped their arms around his legs, embracing him in a hug. They nearly pushed Shirou off the stairs in a fit of excitement, but Shirou's quick reflexes forced his right leg onto the lower step, acting as a support for the surprisingly strong force.

"Did you bring it, Shirou?!" One of the children asked anxiously, looking up to stare him in the face.

' _Kids, always straight to the point._ ' Cana thought.

"I did." Shirou replied, smiling as he raised a hand to pat her head.

Inside the building, just behind the crowd, stood a woman dressed in a black and white gown. Stepping forward, the woman crouched down to speak to the children. "Now, now everyone, Shirou needs some space here. Why don't we make some room."

At her request, the children ran back into the house, looking back at Shirou constantly to make sure that he was following.

Shirou re-established his grip on the box before stepping into the building. Something stopped him from going all the way inside. Stopping, he turned to look at Cana and the rest. "It's fine, everyone. We can go inside now." With that, he turned back around and disappeared into the building.

Shrugging, Cana looked to Levy and then back at the building before stepping inside.

* * *

She had regretted not following Shirou before he left her sight. Cana and the rest had stumbled through corridor after corridor in search for him, leading to awkward moments with residents of the building they were in. But finally, after searching for a few minutes, they found him in a large open hall with tables everywhere.

It took a few moments, but Shirou eventually caught sight of his friends closing in on the nearby table. "Ah, sorry for leaving you guys back there. The kids were hungry, so..." He said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"It's fine, we made it after all." Levy replied with a cheerful smile, "Emiya, where do we put these?" She asked, raising the two stack of boxes she was holding.

"On the table, right there." Shirou pointed to the table on Levy's right.

After placing the boxes on the table, they all walked over by Shirou in the center of the room.

"What is this place?" Cana asked.

Turning his attention away from the kids, Shirou looked to Cana and the rest. "It's and orphanage." He replied, walking over to the table to unpack the food.

"You bake for homeless kids?" Droy asked, receiving an elbow jab from Jet.

"They aren't homeless, dude. That's the point of an orphanage." Jet replied.

Chuckling at the brief interaction between two of Shadow Gear's members, Shirou continued to unbox the food as he answered. "Well, I can't afford to do it all the time, but I can manage today. And, it's is a special occasion as well, so..."

"Hm?" Cana looked at the food with a confused expression. "You mean you didn't use the Guild's supplies to make this?"

Shirou shook his head. "No. I'm pretty sure that would be illegal." He said as he finished unpacking the food. "And it wouldn't be right either." Grabbing the boxes, he neatly stacked them before throwing them into the nearby trashcan. Waving to the woman from earlier, Shirou stood back, watching as she gathered the children.

"Alright everyone, may I have your attention!" The woman shouted, her voice reaching the ears of everyone in the room.

Suddenly, doors to the left and right opened, older kids in their teenage years came walking through before stopping once inside the grand hall.

Satisfied with the number present, the woman continued her speech. "Shirou, went out of his way to cook meals for everyone here. What do we say?"

The children, from their seats, turned to Shirou who was at the far end of the hall.

"Thank you, Shirou!" They all shouted in unison, genuine gratitude in their tones.

In the back of the hall; Cana, who was leaning against the wall, pushed off and stood up straight. ' _Why do they call him that?_ ' Cana thought, the curiosity from within emerging and showing on her face.

"Well, it wasn't just me." Shirou admitted, stepping aside and presenting his friends behind. "My friends helped a lot. I wouldn't be able to do this if not for the Fairy Tail Guild."

"We barely did anything." Said Levy.

"That's not true," Shirou replied. "I wouldn't have made it here if it weren't your help."

After showing their gratitude, the children all sat around the various tables in the hall. The older kids seating themselves in the far corners of the room; around the center where the younger ones were.

Turning around, Shirou stepped aside as if he were making walking room for his group. "I made enough food for you guys too." He said.

"No need to tell me twice!" Jet dashed through the gaps between the tables and made his way to one of the empty seats in sight. Jumping into the air, he held onto his hat as he landed softly into the seat.

"Hey, wait for me!" Droy shouted, running after his friend.

Ever since Shirou had became a chef at the guild, the two regularly ordered food. Even their leader, Levy ate a little bit more at the guild. Needless to say, only a fool would pass up the opportunity to eat a meal cooked by Emiya Shirou.

Despite the fact that both Levy and Cana enjoyed Shirou's wonderful cooking, they both passed. Instead, they offered their portions to the children. Even with Shirou explaining that the kids didn't need it and they'd be full with what they already had, they still refused, their consciences winning the fight.

Shirou himself wasn't hungry, as he had already ate before coming here. Instead of waiting behind or socializing, Shirou walked over to the table and grabbed one of the boxes. It was a pink box, different from the others which were white. It was even larger in terms of height, width and length. Width and length wise, it was gigantic. After getting it into a manageable position in his arms, Shirou walked through the hall, dodging individuals and passing his own group.

Turning around, Cana saw him entering the corridor behind and disappearing after a he made a turn. Looking at the box up close, it was actually three boxes stacked on top of each other, actually decreasing in size slightly as it went up. Still, each box was large in its own right. They were actually so large that Cana almost wondered how she didn't notice it in the first place.

"I wonder where he's going." Said Cana. She also wanted to know what was in the boxes, but figured that she had no place in knowing.

"Emiya said that is was a special occasion, maybe it has something to do with that." Levy replied.

"Hm..." Cana hummed. "Normally, I'd just wanna sit down and drink, but there are kids around... I guess I could use this time to figure out what's going on." She spoke, stepping away from Levy.

' _She cares enough to not drink around kids, yet she's still exposed..._ ' Levy thought to herself.

Looking at the state of the room, Cana carefully searched for any clues as to what the occasion must be. Honestly, there wasn't anything noteworthy in the room, just a bunch of kids eating dinner together. Maybe it was the fact that they were all eating together? She had heard stories of that being a hard thing to do. Though, these children didn't exactly look like the type to struggle with such issues. Even the older kids appeared to be well behaved. Guess that was one thing to be ruled out.

Did someone perhaps recover from an injury? Maybe this was some sort of celebration for someone returning from the hospital... No, it couldn't be that. Looking around, Cana didn't see anyone with injuries, save for some minor cuts or scrapes, but those were most likely from playing around... or were the- 'no! Just no... I should stop guessing before I get any wrong ideas.' Cana thought to herself.

Looking to the corner of the room, opposite to her own, Cana spotted the woman from earlier. It was the same woman who came out with the children to greet Shirou. Maybe she could ask the woman? Cana took the first step when a thought popped into her head. ' _Would it be rude to ask?_ ' Depending on the tone she asked with, the woman might think that Cana were in a hurry to leave. Well, it would be fine. As long as she asked with a more curious voice, it shouldn't seem so rude.

Walking across the hall diagonally proved to be impossible as there were tables organized everywhere. Instead, Cana zig-zagged through the room, passing tables full of children (And Jet and Droy), she finally stopped at the other corner near the woman.

Seeing Cana up close, the woman smiled and waved. "Hello," She greeted. "Do you need something?"

"No." Cana replied, now that she was actually here, Cana realized that she never planned out the conversation. But before Cana could even ask, the woman decided to make conversation.

"Oh my!" She exclaimed, placing a hand on her cheek. "We haven't been introduced yet. What is your name, young lady?"

Well this was an awkward conversation. "It's Cana."

"What a lovely name." Said the woman. "I'm Amy, the caretaker of this orphanage."

"Well then, Amy... thanks for having us here, I guess." Said Cana.

"No, no. I should thank you Fairy Tail wizards instead. This place is falling apart, it's hard enough to pay for repairs, let alone feed everyone." Amy gestured to the tables as she spoke. "That's why having Shirou here was a big help. He cooked for us enough times that it actually helped us get into a financially comfortable area."

There it was again, she called him 'Shirou'. Writing it off, Cana decided to ask Shirou himself about it later. "Actually, it was just Emiya who should be thanked. We didn't know about this until today."

Amy appeared to be confused momentarily before she replied, "Even so, you helped carry all of the supplies. With his injuries, Shirou wouldn't have been able to come here without your help. And I think the children enjoy your company, it's not everyday that they get to see wizards."

"I guess you're right..." Cana muttered.

"All things aside, Shirou is a wonderful cook."

Stepping forward, Cana stood side-by-side with Amy. "Agreed." She said.

"He even got Ophelia to eat her vegetables."

"Ophelia?" Cana questioned.

"Yes." Amy answered, pointing over to a table in the far corner. "Before, she would only eat fruits, bread and certain types of meat. But this... only the most talented of cooks could have broken her eating habits!"

Cana looked over at the table that the caretaker was pointing at.

Sitting alone was a teenage girl of short stature, dressed in white. A book sat in her right hand and a fork gripped tightly in the left, disappearing into her mouth. Her light brown hair was tied neatly into a pony-tail. Over her pale face, on the bridge of her nose thin, black framed glasses sat just under her bangs. What looked to be bright blue eyes appeared to be fervently scanning the pages of her book.

Then, all of the sudden the girl placed the book down onto the table and looked up at the room. Her head turned as she searched the place with her eyes, as if looking for someone. As if disappointed, she sighed before stabbing the fork into an idle carrot on her plate. She then looked to the left as if recalling a memory before turning her attention back to the carrot. After which she blushed, and then took a bite out of it.

"Yeah..." Cana muttered. "It's definitely his talent..." She then looked to Amy to see if she noticed anything weird with the girl, but the caretaker seemed to be too distracted to hear her most recent remark.

The poor girl over there was clearly crushing on Shirou, which, to Cana, was the only reason she would eat vegetables. Unfortunately Shirou was too old for her. It was always unfortunate to see kids do stuff like this, but she'd grow out of it eventually.

' _Wait..._ ' If Cana remembered correctly, Shirou said that he wasn't old enough to drink, which surprised everyone, especially Cana herself. Shirou appeared to be older, but was it just a growth spurt? Perhaps he's just one of those kids who looked older than they were? After all,

The legal drinking age was fifteen the last time Cana checked. Though, she actually started drinking at age thirteen, but it was fine since no one found out... right?

Scratching her head, Cana furrowed her brows. It was like finding out that Santa isn't real. You'd believe it, but it's still some heavy hitting news. Because that would mean... ' _Emiya's only fourteen?... or... around that age?..._ ' There was no way. He just didn't look that young. ' _I guess I'll take back some of my previous thoughts._ ' Still though, the news was a bit shocking.

' _Just one second... was I outclassed in combat by a fourteen year old?!_ ' Cana thought. If anyone were looking at her right now, they would clearly be able to tell that she was in deep thought. Her facial expression constantly changed and her eyes were wide. ' _Becoming an S-Class wizard seems a little bit harder now._ ' Harder, but not impossible that is.

Cana's eyes widened further at a sudden realization. ' _No... those girls from earlier today... if they knew..._ ' This was truly a troublesome discovery. As his friend, Cana would have to fend off the barrage of girls that were targeting Shirou. But there was no way that She could be there all the time for him. Could she just tell everyone so that they wouldn't try to gun for him? No way, there was a chance that he wanted to keep this a secret. Maybe she could just let one person in on this, someone who spends more time with him than anyone else in the guild. ' _Erza is somewhat protective of him, maybe I could fill her in on the issue when she gets back._ '

Actually, Erza being protective would reinforce the theory going around guild that Shirou and Erza are siblings. Oh well, that's just something called 'collateral damage'.

Cana sighed, the long walk here combined with all of the recent hard thinking was making her tired. Yawning, she bent her back backwards and stretched out her arms. Boy did stretching feel good. Opening her eyes, she spotted something on the ceiling while she was stretching.

Unusually long and draped from one side of the room to the other. She didn't notice it earlier because the ceiling was so tall.

It was a banner.

 _'Happy Birthday, Ophelia!'_ The banner read.

' _Well that explains a lot._ ' Cana thought to herself. In hind sight, it was obvious what the occasion was. The large pink boxes were a dead giveaway, how in the world did she not notice? No, she knew what it was. It was her lack of alcohol intake. She hadn't been able to drink in such a long time, and it made her brain sluggish. That had to be it.

"It's her fourteenth birthday today." Amy said from the side. She must have noticed Cana staring at the banner. "In case if you were wondering."

"Yeah, thanks." Cana replied quietly before retreating back into her thoughts. ' _The same age as Emiya... probably..._ '

* * *

After nearly an hour, Shirou had finished frosting and stacking the cakes. It would have only taken twenty minutes had his arm been fully functional, but he didn't mind putting in the extra work.

The cake itself was actually purple despite being in a pink box. From what he remembered, it was the birthday girl's favorite color. Instead of placing an outrageous amount of candles all over the cake, Shirou settled for one. It was all you needed to make a wish.

Stepping back, Shirou admired the snow white vanilla frosting crown, running along the edges and corners of the cake, perfectly accenting the purple color. Despite being unusual, it was a pretty cool looking cake. At least he thought it was. Though, in the end, it didn't matter what he thought about it. To him, the final test was what the person that it was made for thought about it. As long as she did, then his work was worth it.

Regardless, Shirou was pretty confident that Ophelia would enjoy her cake. While the girl was a picky eater when it came to normal food, it was a completely different story for sweets. She would eat everything, cake especially.

After he finished decorating the cake, he placed his hands under the plate and lifted. He needed to Reinforce his arm as it was still injured. Switching on a few of his magic circuits, he filled the gaps in his arms with prana. The large fracture in his left arm was able to be flooded with prana due to the remaining gaps. His Reinforcement finishing in less than a second, he lifted the cake and placed it into the freezer. Closing the door of the freezer, he then left the kitchen. They definitely wouldn't be able eat dessert immediately after dinner, and the cake itself needed to be frozen to a certain extent.

Walking through the long halls of the building, he greeted and passed a few of the maids and caretakers on the way to his destination. Finally, after a few minutes, he stopped in the grand hall, just at the entrance.

Sensing a presence to his right, he turned his head and saw Levy, leaning up against the frame of the door. "Were you standing here all this time?" Shirou asked.

"Hm?" Levy, who was in seemingly deep thought, snapped out of it and turned to look at Shirou. "Oh, well... yeah, I guess. It wasn't that long, so it's fine."

It was a normal thing for someone as reserved as Levy to do, but they've been here for an hour. If she was standing all this time... Even with the super strength that came with being a wizard, it was still a little difficult to stand for that long.

Turning to the left, Shirou's familiarity with the place guided him to a set of stack-able wooden chairs. Reaching over for the one on the chairs on top of the stack, he lifted it out and carried it over to his friend. "Here you go." He spoke, placing the chair in the spot that Levy was previously occupying.

"Thank you." She said, moving back to sit in the newly placed seat.

Shirou himself had just planned on waiting until he was needed, but then he remembered something. "I almost forgot," He began reaching into his pocket. Pulling out something that looked similar to a leather wallet, he opened it and pulled out a reasonable sum of Jewel. "Here. It's for the books. Thanks again, Levy." He finished, holding the Jewel in his hand as he extended his arm out to Levy.

"Oh, it's no problem." Levy spoke kindly as she reached for the Jewel. "They're in the box shaped bag on that table."

Nodding, Shirou stepped away and made his way for the only table where no one was seated. Spotting the cube-like structure, he easily identified it as the three-stack of books wrapped in a brown bag, tied closed with a scarlet ribbon. The wrapping wasn't anything special, but people in this world never really seemed to care for overly decorated gift wrap. It was fine this way too, as Shirou thought the current wrapping looked better.

Reaching over, he grabbed the gift and stepped away from the table. He already knew where Ophelia would be, she was reserved and quiet, she always sat in that same corner every day. Knowing this, the other kids would leave her alone. Walking over at the table, he caught the girl waving at him and returned the gesture.

Stopping at the table, he placed the gift down in front of her. "I know it's formality to give the presents with the cake, but I figured you would want to just open them now."

Placing down her own book, Ophelia reached over to the free lace on the ribbon. Pinching the string, she pulled and unraveled the knot on the ribbon, causing it to fall to the sides. A thin flap popped out from the brown wrap. Lifting the flap, she was able to open it completely. As the wrapping unfurled, the contents were revealed and a smile found its way onto her face.

"Thank you, Shirou." The girl said gratefully. Lifting the books from the paper underneath, she examined the titles.

 _'The Practical Uses Of Water Magic'_

 _'Water Magic For Beginners'_

 _'How To Increase Your Magic Pool: Volume I'_

Standing up from her seat, Ophelia was about to say something when someone came running over.

"Shiwou, Ophilla! We're going to play outside!" Shouted a young boy. It was Donny, one of the youngest of the orphans. He enjoyed the outdoors more than anyone else did. So much, that he even tried sneaking out at night one time to camp in the backyard.

Then, quickly as he came, he left. Running out sooner than Shirou could stop him.

"Wait, Donny! Wait for everyone first, it's dangerous to go alone!" Despite Shirou's warnings, the boy was already gone. "That kid. He would live out there if he could." Shirou sighed.

"Well," Shirou started, looking at Ophelia. "I guess we should follow everyone." He said, gesturing to the wave of people leaving the hall and entering the packed corridor. "Come on, you can practice while you're outside."

"Mm." Nodding, Ophelia grabbed her new books and followed Shirou, who trailed the back of the crowd.

For some reason, everyone decided to cram together and walk through the halls, which made a small walk feel like a long journey with how long it took to leave. Despite the agonizing wait, they were outside within ten minutes.

Shirou had tried to get the kids to walk in single file multiple times throughout his visits, but they never listened. The excitement of playing outside always caused some to break formation and start running. A small break in formation always influenced a larger one, the kids always just ran and passed each other in the halls, but with the sheer amount of people there, it always just made things take longer. Shirou was just glad that they made it out, he always felt like a sardine being packed into a can when he walked in those halls.

Walking over the gravel pathway, he turned to the right and stood under a nearby tree.

Ophelia followed and came to a halt at the stump before leaning against it and sliding down into a sitting posture. "Hey, Shirou. Which one do you think I should start with?" She asked, holding up the set of books.

Lowering himself into a crouch, Shirou examined the books. "Well, I'm not exactly an expert in magic, but Levy told me that an amateur wizard should read 'Water Magic For Beginners' first, then you should move onto, 'The Practical Uses of Water Magic' and then finally, the last one.

From the corner of his eye, Shirou saw some familiar figures making their way to the tree. Turning to look at it directly, he identified it as Cana and team Shadow Gear.

Ophelia, noticing Shirou's attention changing, turned to wave to the group.

Once they came closer, Cana crouched down and glanced at the book titles. "Do you practice Water Magic?" She asked.

Ophelia nodded. "I'm not good at it though..." She admitted.

From behind, Jet raised his left arm and rolled up his coat sleeve, flexing his rather scrawny arm. "Well, little lady. If you practice enough, maybe you can become as strong as me one day."

Leaning in closer, Cana whispered into the girl's ear, "Don't listen to him, he doesn't train much and he always loses fights against his guild-mates."

However, Jet managed to hear Cana's remark from his position. "Hey, I bet I could beat you!" He shouted, pointing at Cana.

"Cana's right, Jet. You don't really train all that often." Levy said.

"Levy?!" Jet cried, shrinking down from behind Droy.

Shirou chuckled at the short interaction. It was always heart warming to see how close the members of Fairy Tail were.

"Oh yeah. I've been meaning to ask something, Emiya." Cana began. "Why is everyone calling you-"

"Shiwou, look!"

At the sound of the voice, everyone group turned to see who it was. Donny was the first to leave the group, but Shirou didn't think much of it, he thought that the others in the front would keep an eye on him. Though it looked like he was back from his short adventure.

"I made a new friend!" He shouted excitedly.

Shirou's eyes widened, his previously cheerful expression soured. Reinforcing his body to the maximum, he jumped onto the gravel path. Tracing a recurve bow in his left arm and an arrow in his right, he stood sideways, legs apart as he nocked the arrow. Two unnamed swords floated at his sides as a safety measure.

"Let him go." Shirou demanded, his bow aimed at the figure behind Donny.

It was a woman, cloaked in a black and blue garment. A hood covered her eyes and everything above, but a smile could be seen on the lower half of her face as she held a knife above the boy's head. "I don't think you're in any position to make demands, Sword Mage." She spoke, lowering the knife closer to his head.

"I wouldn't say that." Shirou said. "My arrow could stop you before you have the chance to do anything." Honestly, it felt incredibly uncomfortable drawing the bow this far with his arm, but he had to hold out for Donny's sake.

Cana seemed to be a bit troubled over Shirou's statement, but she pushed the feeling away and joined him at his side. "What kind of business do you have here?" She interrogated, cards squeezed between her fingers as she raised her left hand and gripped her bag with the other.

"The master demands his presence." The woman replied. "He is coming with me."

"Don't count on it!" Droy shouted, he and his team backing up Shirou and Cana.

"Emiya is under the protection of Fairy Tail!" Jet yelled.

The woman's already devious grin widened further. "Then who is protecting the children?"

"That should be obvious." Shirou spoke from behind his bow.

Stepping closer, Levy glared at the hooded woman. "We're faster, you can't do anything. We have you outnumbered, so just let him go!"

Then, the woman's grin grew, her teeth revealed in the wide smile.

As if dropping down from the sky, a cloaked man fell onto the ground next to the woman. And then another, and another. One by one, more and more figures dropped around them. Some even landing on the surrounding rooftops and trees. Soon enough, hundreds of them peppered the area, effectively caging everyone in the yard.

"We have you outnumbered, so just let him go." The woman repeated, mocking Levy.

Shirou clicked his tongue. ' _I was an idiot! I shouldn't have come back here knowing that there was a Dark Guild targeting me!_ ' He thought, scolding himself for not thinking about this potential outcome.

Cana could sense his distress, stepping closer, she spoke quietly. "Don't do it Emiya. We can still win this fight."

No, that was wrong. Shirou knew that much. There was no winning this; it was a hopeless situation.

Cana had intended for her words to go unheard by the surrounding enemies, but the woman still somehow heard from her distance.

"That's right, Sword Mage. You could probably win this fight, but counting all of the bodies after would be quite troublesome."

Gritting his teeth, Shirou dismissed the swords from his sides. "I'll go with you." He said, causing the woman to giggle with excitement.

"Emiya!" Cana exclaimed.

"You 'Hero-types'," The woman spoke. "You never do anything but sacrifice yourselves. People like you are the Epitome of 'worthlessness'."

Shirou ignored the woman's comment; his friends, however, were practically seething with rage behind him.

"I have a condition." Shirou said.

"Still think you can make demands? Alright then, let me hear them." She offered.

"Let him go. As soon as I go with you, you have to leave. All of you. Never come back, and never bother anyone here again." The woman's face was mostly covered, but from what Shirou could see, her expression bordered on 'crazy'.

As young as he was, Donny seemed to have understood the situation and began kicking the woman's leg. "Don't do it, Shiwou!"

"Alright," The woman began. "We have a deal."

Shirou nodded, dismissing his bow, causing it to break into thousands of small blue particles of light.

From behind, Cana reached out and snatched Shirou's arm. "Emiya! You can't! We're strong enough, we can protec-"

"Cana." Shirou spoke, the seriousness in his tone silencing her. "Even the strongest have to admit that there are some things they can't do... at least, for the moment."

As his words sunk in, Cana's expression became more grim.

"If I don't go, everyone could get hurt. Some of the people here could even die." Stepping back, he felt Cana's grip loosen from his arm before her hand fell off completely.

"Emiya, we promised..." Levy pleaded from behind Cana.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Shirou accompanied his words with a smile, attempting to calm his friends. "Just take care of everyone for me." Turning back around, he stepped forward to the woman.

"You made the right choice, Sword Mage." She said, letting go of the boy, causing him to run back to the caretaker.

As he stepped closer to the woman, the surrounding groups seemingly vanished, and the remainder followed as an escort. Once they all made it to a clearing, a dark raven colored magic circle was in plain view on the ground.

"Where do you plan on taking me?" Shirou questioned.

As soon as they stepped onto the circle, the woman turned to face him and smiled. "I already told you, Sword Mage." From underneath, black smoke rose from the ground and littered the air above the circle. "The master wishes to see you."

Then, as the smoke reached an unbearably dense state, it vanished. Nothing left in its place. The woman, her soldiers, all gone. Even the circle itself vanished from the ground, leaving no trace of its existence. But none of that was important.

Fairy Tail was left with a dark feeling, because...

 _Emiya was gone._

* * *

 **Hey, guys. I know this chapter was short, and probably not that great. There are some things I know you might complain about, so let me take a guess and explain down below, my reasons.**

 **Guy: Dal, are you putting OCs into this story?!**

 **Dal: No, what you see in certain chapters are not "OCs", but "Background characters with names" Very few of them will have significant impact to the overall plot. Maybe one of them will do one plot significant thing in the future, but I don't know. All I know is that these aren't really OCs in the standard sense.**

 **If anything, they're just plot devices... oh... that's sad, actually. I also know that there will be some British guy in the reviews saying, "Dal, you bloody dinosaur! Plot devices must not feel like plot devices!"**

 **No! Leave me alone British man! I'm just a poor, lonely (And lazy) fool!**

 **Gal: Dal, is Shirou fourteen in this fic?!**

 **Dal: No, that was a joke. Both Cana and Shirou misunderstood and now this will lead to some great dialogue in the future.**

 **Doggo: *Woof***

 **Dal: I love you.**

 **British Guy: You used Semicolons improperly!**

 **Dal: I was on a sugar crash, I didn't know! I'm sorry!**

 **Anyway, before we address the reviews, I have a question. This one doesn't actually relate to the fic in any way at all, it was just a thought of mine.**

 **Can Shirou project a broom? And if he can, could he even effectively use it without it breaking? If not, could he reinforce it to make it use-able? I know this sounds stupid, but hear me out.**

 **Now, if he could, does UBW say "Well, it's kind of like a sword... let's store it, Shirou!" Or is it like one of the normal things he traces. Cause I know he can project normal stuff, like a vase or something, because he did that as practice when Kiritsugu was training him.**

 **So, what do you guys think, is a broom close enough to a weapon? Would a traced broom with paper durability be effective when Reinforced?! We need to know! (Actually, we don't since it won't be in the story, but I'm curious!)**

 **Also, I actually have another question.**

 **How do magic circuits work? Some people say for example: "Shirou was running low on prana".**

 **But in the wiki, it says, "Shirou's circuits can barely handle ten units of magical energy, but if he trains he can increase that number."**

 **The second statement would lead one to believe that he has a supply of mana, but it runs through his circuits in order to be used. But then there's also all of the statements in UBW about how Shirou's mana gave out.**

 **So... wat it do? How it work?**

 **Ahem! Anyway, let's address some reviews.**

* * *

 **Rileva Said: Hey, just wanted to say I'm enjoying this so far. Honestly, seeing you downplay your own writing at the end of every chapter doesn't sit right with me. I get it, it's not great, and I admit sometimes your writing does feel inconsistent, but overall I'd say you're doing fine.**

 **Dal: Thanks, man.**

 **Rivela: As for the forced interactions, meh. I can see it, but at the end of the day this is fanfiction for a reason. If you want to have Shirou and Erza have a moment for the umpteenth time then what the hell, go for it. It's obvious that you care about the quality of your work, so I'm convinced you'll find a way to polish all of the little things that bother you in due time.**

 **Dal: Wait, hold on. I know it looks like there are forced romance moments, like the one at the end of Chapter 8, but most of them were on accident. I was like, "Hey, this is a normal interaction that people should have." And then you guys were all like, "No, Dal. That's a romance moment." And then I was like, "Whaaaat?!"**

 **But yeah, you're right.**

 **Rivela: That's kind of all I wanted to say, so yeah. Have a good one!**

 **Dal: Thanks, you too.**

* * *

 **Yami-Guy Said: This chapter right here just puts into focus that Shirou cannot in any way keep up in the long run with top tier wizards. All his greatest feats where situational advantages at best.**

 **Dal: Yeah, I executed it so poorly though. First: it didn't look situational, but it was. Secondly: This chapter portrays that fact in a bad way when you consider the fact that Shirou was injured.**

 **I will highlight this in future chapters though. There will be remedies for Shirou's strength issue, but he'll always be that third-rate magus in the end. Surviving battles by the skin of his teeth.**

* * *

 **Nagisa Tr Said: Well Avalon is a monster of a healer capable of healing anything short of decapitation also making the user impervious to aging... At the least with saber. Even though i isnt at full strength without saber the connection Shirou has with her is enough to make it considerably stronger than the un-awakened version.(Which still heals a lot. Healing shirous wounds from the *Cursed fire* in a week where normally it shouldn't have even healed. Also Earthland has a LOT more ambient magic than Nasuverse. The pureness should be better too and in which case Shirous mage craft should be stronger. Not more Prana capacity mind you. That depends on his circuits no he just should be able to use his magecraft better.**

 **Dal: Yes, but Dal is an incompetent fool. I messed up in portraying this part.**

 **Nagisa Tr: And you aren't fooling anyone. Gilgamesh was sucked into the portal along with Shirou and his Golden Rule should give him enough money to buy the houses. Arrogant you say are you even trying? Also Gilgamesh wouldn't send normal people to fight Shirou no he would kill the FAKER himself after all who dares to cut off the arm of the one and only king? The person Gilgamesh hates the MOST in all universes is Shirou because he is that; A faker. I applaud you tho it's nice.**

 **Dal: My ear-to-ear grin is showing off my dinosaur teeth... Wait... I better not let anyone see. It's embarrassing after all.**

* * *

 **Wayker Said: This is pretty good. The character development and reactions of the characters are on point, especially Erza who often gets totally butchered in normal fanfics. Your Shirou does seem to be stronger than the normal Shirou, but i haven't read a single fanfic where he isn't so i that is fine. While the fairy tail cast haven't had much time to shine i feel like when they do get their turn it will be suitably awesome, showing how strong they really are. In the end the story is really good, not in a heart pounding awesome, but more in terms of character development. I will look forward to seeing the casts reaction to Shirou and how Shirou eventually evolves as a character.**

 **Dal: It's funny how you say that, because all of your wishes here are in my outline. Erza has a really awesome moment pretty soon in the next arc, Natsu has one too. The reason why Shirou had more is because the story started with him and it was on his perspective for the most part. But there are highlights for a lot of the characters planned in this story.**

 **As of right now, it's not heart-poundingly awesome, but I have hopes for some of the future arcs. I might make some of you guys poop your pants... with the story... not by myself... that would be weird...**

 **Wayker: NB: In my humble opinion end game fairy tail main cast are all high tier servant level. Maybe not "Gate of Babylon" strong, but definitely strong enough to take on some of the stronger servants. Natsu in particular becomes someone who at the end of the story basically became bullshit incarnate, dragon king mode anyone?**

 **Dal: Yeah, I agree. This is a misunderstanding between me and the viewers. I agree that they are high-tier servant strong by YOUR definition at the end of the story. But my idea of "High-tier servant" is Gilgamesh or Karna. You guys probably meant like Cu (LAWL! Don't step on his grass, guys!), or Mordred, or... I don't remember very many servants. I'm old and I don't play Grand Order like you youngians.**

 **Anyway, thanks for the review dude.**

* * *

 **Silentshadow456 Said: In this story, will shirou will kill his enemies or just defeat them?**

 **Dal: Shirou will only kill if necessary. While some will argue that's not the case by bringing up points where he hypothesized situations where he had to kill his potential allies, those were merely preparation. Due to what Shirou said in UBW I am inclined to believe that he wishes to save as many as possible.**

 **Which is another point to bring up.**

 **Most fanfictions portray Shirou as someone who will "only save everyone, doesn't settle for anything less." However, when he was unlocking UBW, he said something along the lines of, "Even if I have to sacrifice the few to save the many!" So, yeah... I'm inclined to believe that he'd do that, but still wish to save as many as possible, even his enemies... probably.**

* * *

 **Blu3b3rryT3a Said: I like this fanfic and my reasons why include-**  
 **the interesting plot twists**

 **Dal: Wat. Wai- Yeah, I agree. The plot twists were so interesting that they got me too.**

 **Blu3b3rryT3a: in-depth understanding of the characters involved, especially their personalities**  
 **how you blend Shirou into the overall plot of Fairy Tale in a natural way (a cook makes SO MUCH SENSE)**  
 **how you still allow Shirou to shine without making him the most OP character**

 **This is well written and I hope you continue writing!**

 **Dal: Ah, you probably thought that I was dead. Sorry, dude. I will indeed keep writing until the end of the story... I hope.**

 **Also, thanks for the compliments.**

* * *

 **Nikkless Said: waiting for new chapters.**

 **Dal: Oops. That wait was like, what? Half a year? Yeah, sorry about that.  
**

 **Nikkless: it would be cool if Shirous body would get used to Earthland and become stronger and sturdier.**

 **Dal: While that won't happen, I have something planned out for the future. Something that makes complete sense within the lore.**

 **Thanks for the review, bruh.**

* * *

 **hexmaster23 Said: Is it me or does anyone else feel that Shirou has been nerfed a lot?**

 **Dal: Hold up. People keep saying that, but Chapter 8 emphisized that Shirou was weaker due to his injuries. Erza even stated that Shirou would have won with relative ease if he weren't so badly wounded. Now, some people are like, "He's been injured for too long, Dal. Now the F.B.I. is coming for you." But, guys! Open fractures don't heal that fast! And it re-fractured!**

 **Don't worry, though. His injuries mostly heal in the next arc. They will still inhibit certain actions, but it won't be a major thing in the story for the next arc.**

 **Thanks for the review.**

* * *

 **Paradox The Ruler Said:** **A chain? Dont you mean a -puts sunglasses on- A series of unfortunate events?**

 **Dal: I don't, * _Puts on_ sunglasses* Know what you mean. _YEAH!_ (C.S.I. Miami reference on my end, for some of the younger viewers).**

* * *

 **adislt Said: Why doesn't Shirou just see the history of his enemies' weapons when he gets ambushed in this chapter?**

 **Dal: It was a point in the outline, but I wrote it out of the story on accident. Shirou, in the outline, used Structural Grasp on their weapons only to find out they were disposable gear. Good eye, though, but the fault is on my end.**

 **Thanks for the review.**

* * *

 **HarmonyDST05 Said: Dal...**  
 **so you tell me that Gaé Bolg, the spear of Cu Chullain, uses the power of love? NTR much?**

 **Dal: Yeah, NTR alright. It steps on other peoples' grass.**

* * *

 **Der Puppenmacher Said: I don't think Erza explained guild logos to Shirou so he shouldn't recognise the Fairy Tail Crest.**

 **Dal: It's on the building, but you're right, I should have explained this better.**

 **Thanks for the review.**

* * *

 **Glasrevin Said: This is one of the few FF's that puts a genuine smile on my face when i see an update, great work!**

 **Dal: Then you're going to be smiling like a** **Tyrannosaurus Rex today, you!... Why am I talking about dinosaurs so much?**

 **Also, thanks.**

* * *

 **Ssj1998 Said: So if I'm getting this right Shirou here is essentially to a fair part of the FT universe what archer was to the other Servants back in fate, now EMIYA while being my favourite character was pretty much the one of if not the weakest servant of the fifth holy grail war if we count Cursed arm assassin as well I'm not bashing archer it's just a fact.**

 **Dal** **: Yes, exactly! In the Fate series, Archer, in his lifetime, lived as a Third-rate Magus. After becoming a Counter Guardian and snaking his way into the Grail War, he became a Third-rate Heroic Spirit. It should be the same for Shirou, but more difficult for him to a certain extent.**

 **Ssj1998: Now with that being said what both these characters have in common is that while stats wise they were and are on the lower mid end of the spectrum in both situations, they are essentially the most adaptable and are near the top in danger factor in regards to pure firepower.**

 **Now if you had Archer being the one placed here then it'd be the other way round and he'd be near the top in FT with only a select few being able to outright beat him no problem what so ever.(he's a counter guardian what ever he would be facing here would probably be like a puppy to some of the shit he's had to face)**

 **Dal: But that's only if he still had his Counter Guardian privilleges when coming to Earthland. If so, then I feel as if he could beat anyone. Heroic Spirit EMIYA from the Grail War was nerfed because he wasn't his Counter Guardian self, but even that** **EMIYA would still be OP here.**

 **Ssj1998Now if had to choose who would shirou's perfect counter, It would be Gildarts for the fact whatever Shirou fires could be destroyed by his crash magic. Also I'm not sure if he would able to handle tracing a strong enough NP without damn near killing himself in the process.**

 **All in all while it would cool if you saw my review, either way I'm happy to keep reading whenever you update so keep up the good work.**

 **Dal: Well, I saw it! And it's cool! Also, thanks for the review.**

* * *

 **Redripper Said: Other then the a/n being to long its not bad he doesn't really change much tho**

 **Dal: I'm so sorry for this... Also, that Arc was short, but I couldn't do much with it. Things change a little bit more here, and then drastically later on.**

* * *

 **That's all the time we have for today, folks! And I'll see you in the next video!**

 **Remember to brush your teeth twice a day and rinse your mouth after every meal**

 **-Dal**


	10. In Enemy Hands

It was dark, even under the bag he could tell. However, something else had caught his attention.

The magical energy here was _dense._

A sweet flavorful scent permeated the air and found its way inside Shirou's throat. The strongest smells could be tasted and even stronger smells could make one nauseous. It was akin to stirring in three cups of sugar into a small mug of coffee and forcing yourself to chug it all down. Right now, the sheer concentration was enough to have him holding back his vomit.

He would get used to it eventually, right? Maybe not, but he could only hope. Or maybe he wouldn't have to. He felt as if this were the place that they were going to keep him, but he could be wrong. He hoped that he was wrong, the magical energy was becoming more unbearable the closer they got. It was already too much in Magnolia, even more so inside the Fairy Tail Guild House, but he hadn't been this bothered by magical energy since his time in the Grail War.

From his time on Earthland, he had gotten the general idea of what was considered to be powerful. What is considered high and low. Whatever was going on here was definitely not something good. Something that needed to be considered is _'who_ ' or ' _what_ ' was causing this.

If the energy belonged to a person... then Shirou would just have to give up, because they would be stronger than all of the wizards in Fairy Tail combined. If it were a person, he wouldn't stand a chance. But if it were multiple people, it would make sense. He had been taken by a dark guild after all, so it would be a plausible theory. But it would mean one of two things.

Either the dark guild was full of power houses, or they were just ' _full_ ', they could have an army. But the second one seems to be a bit of a stretch. And the first one, well... from what Shirou knew, Erza was considered a high-tier wizard. A 'power house' herself. People like her were rare, a dark guild would have an incredibly difficult time finding them. He couldn't exactly write it off, but he would have to consider it as a possibility for now.

Which left the unexplored option, ' _what_ '. Was this caused by something that wasn't living? It could be some type of lacrima, maybe even a lacrima powered device. Shirou had been able to read up enough about this world, but there was only so much you could find in a library. There were hidden things in this world, things that the guild members of Fairy Tail knew about from experience, most of what Shirou encountered would remain a mystery for a while.

' _When this is over, I'll have to borrow some books from Levy. She might have material that can't be found anywhere else._ ' That was ' _if_ ' it would be over. Admittedly, he didn't know so much about wizards themselves. The ones he had fought were relatively weak, which was why he didn't have a very hard time with them. The ones here could probably even obliterate him for all he knew. Then again, if Erza was an accurate measure of strength for what was considered 'strong', then Shirou was confident that he would have a decent enough fighting chance. Though, he had never seen Erza go all out. He could tell that the red-haired knight was holding back all of those times he saw her.

On that note, Shirou was glad that she was out on a vacation, she would have gotten all worked up over this if she were back home. Hopefully she stayed at the resort for a while, at least until he could figure a way out of this. Even though she'd no doubt find out once she got back. And when she did, she would scold him like how Saber always did.

Shirou sighed, the inhale causing the cloth to cling to his mouth before being pushed back.

"What's the matter, Sword Mage?" The woman spoke across from Shirou. "Sea sick?"

There was no point in making small talk with the enemy. Right now, he would prefer to use this time for planning. Instead, he remained silent from behind the mask of the hood.

Then, Shirou felt the boat come to a sudden stop, causing him to lean back with the force.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked.

Shirou could hear chuckling from the woman seated across from him. After she finished taunting him, she stood up in the boat. The sound of her cloak scraping against the ledge of the boat could be heard as she stepped out of it. Then, sound her steps made changed, settling on a more quiet and grainy sound.

 _Sand?_

Just where were they?

"Get up." The woman spoke from the shore.

Shirou felt fingers quickly wrap around his bicep only to begin pulling him out of the boat. He had nearly tripped over the wall of the boat, but thanks to his quick reaction time, he was able to jump out of it in time. As his feet touched the ground, he could feel the wet sand pulling his shoes down into the ground.

He barely had any time to groan over his wet shoes as he was lead farther away from the docking area. After leaving the dock area, they made him walk, and walk, and walk... Wherever they were going, it was taking a long time to get there. The place must have been huge.

It was roughly ten minutes into the walk that something changed.

Not only was the wind cut off, there was also a slight echo. Even the temperature had changed, it was warm, but he still felt a shiver fall down his spine. All of these small clues processed at once told Shirou that he was no longer outside, but in of some sort of building, or a type of cavern.

Through the effects of sound alone, he could tell that he was in some sort of stone hallway, several openings and passageways on the walls.

Then, as he walked, he felt the hand on his arm pull him back and hold him in place.

A pair of tapping noises echoed throughout the hall, a new set of footsteps made their way closer before stopping right in front of Shirou. A brief shuffling sound of fabric sounded for a moment, they were making a gesture... _maybe a salute?_

"Go." The woman's voice spoke from behind him, disturbingly close to his ear. "Notify the master. Tell him that we have captured the Sword Mage."

Then, the shuffling of fabric was accompanied by a pitter-patter. Slowly, the sounds grew ever distant before fading completely.

"Isn't it wonderful, Sword Mage?" The woman taunted. "Having such loyal servants. I've worked hard to get where I am today. To get this kind of authority."

Seeing as how Shirou didn't answer, she spoke up again.

"Just like you, Sword Mage, I have obedient friends." The woman's tone was bitter, filled with nothing but scorn. "The only difference is that mine are useful."

Suddenly, against her expectations, Shirou replied.

"Just moments ago, you referred to them as 'servants'."

"What of it?" The woman snarled.

From behind the layer of cloth, Shirou turned his head to 'face' the woman. "If you can't make the distinction between a 'friend' and a 'servant', you have no right to either of them."

The woman scoffed at Shirou, pushing him into one of the open rooms.

Before Shirou could even regain his balance, he heard the sound of a gate closing behind him. The guards had already walked off, but the woman lingered. She stared at Shirou, brushing her fingers across the rusty metal of the gate.

"Be glad that I wasn't granted full authority over you, Sword Mage." She spoke. Her hand wrapped around one of the rusted steel bars, causing it to clank and squeal as she gripped it tightly. "If it were up to me, you would rot in there."

She stayed, staring straight at Shirou for a few seconds before deciding to follow her underlings.

After they had left the hall entirely, Shirou made his way to the far back of the room. Turning around, he leaned his back against the wall before sliding down. As he sat there, he had realized what this part of the building was.

 _A dungeon._

* * *

"We have to do something!" Droy shouted.

"Calm down," Cana raised her arm. Reaching out, she placed a hand on Droy's shoulder. "Emiya's a Fairy Tail wizard... kind of."

Makarov nodded, a positive grunt showing his agreement with Cana's statement. "Cana is right, Emiya wouldn't just go off somewhere without the intent to return."

Everyone silently nodded... and then they realized who they were talking about.

"I'll put together an away team to search for Emiya." Makarov sighed. "First, we'll need someone to investigate the residual magical energy from the area."

Everyone remained silent for a while.

As if responding to the silence, Makarov spoke up once more. "I have just the person in mind. In the mean time, I need the four of you to go to back to Emiya's site of disappearance and safe guard it until he gets there."

Nodding, Cana lead the group through the halls of the guild.

"Hey." Droy's voice called out from the back of the group. "Why do you suppose they want Emiya?"

Everyone stopped in place. Something about Droy's question had spawned another in their minds. 'Did they even know much about Emiya in the first place?' Fairy Tail never really pried into anyone's private life or past, but after all of this time they should have known him more personally...

"I don't think any of us could give a decent answer to that question." Said Levy. "Emiya kinda kept to himself... at least that's how I saw it."

Another bout of silence followed only to be broken by Cana.

"It's the same for me, Emiya's never really been open around me." Cana said, pondering her own words after speaking them. None of the four were that close to Shirou, in fact he always hung around team Natsu... 'But they're on vacation...'

"Where'd he even come from anyways?" Jet asked.

"Um..." Levy muttered nervously. "I don't know if this is intruding or not, but I did overhear Erza talking to the master about Emiya."

Everyone listened quietly, if Levy had any important info, it might give them something to go on in the investigation. If not, then it might come in handy later.

Catching everyone's gazes focused on her, Levy continued. "There had been a married couple in one of the surrounding villages, they ran an inn at the outskirts. But the inn was just a guise... apparently, they were drugging people and selling them into slavery."

"I remember hearing about them." Said Cana.

"Right." Levy replied. "Before they were caught, Erza went to stay at their inn." Everyone seemed shocked to hear that someone they knew was nearly a victim of something morbid. Still, they had yet to hear the most surprising part of the story. "They tried serving her a cake... she almost ate it too, but that's when Emiya came. He jumped at her from the stairs to stop her from eating it."

"So he was there too..." Droy muttered quietly.

"Mm." Levy nodded. "I heard they kept him there overnight, but the drugs wore off faster than they expected. Neither of them knew that Emiya was a wizard and that was the cause of their downfall."

The other three pondered the news for a while, only breaking free from their thoughts once Cana spoke up.

"But that still doesn't explain the initial question. ' _Where did Emiya come from_?', or rather ' _Who exactly is Emiya_?'." Cana was about to relax in silence, but when she was met with curious gazes, she had no choice but to explain. "Levy's answer only explained how Erza met Emiya, we still don't know anything about him. If something in his past were to explain why a dark guild is on his case, then it would be some useful info to have right now. I highly doubt two human traffickers had a connection to a dark guild of that size."

"I guess that's right..." Levy sighed in disappointment. "It's only been a few months after all, It's normal to know so little about him."

Cana nodded, turning around to start leading the group out of the guild house. Before opening the door, she turned back to everyone. "Even still, Emiya is a part of Fairy Tail. We're getting him back no matter what."

Seeing everyone nod in response, Cana flashed a smile and opened the doors.

* * *

It had been what felt like an hour since he arrived in the next room. The woman attached a pair of bulky wooden cuffs to his wrists, each chained to the hard stone wall behind him. He could hear her stepping back and momentarily after, grip the top of his hood.

The first thing he saw when it was removed was her face, or at least some of it. Her red lips were curved into a wide and cruel smile as she stared down at Shirou from behind the shadows of her hood. Her figure slowly grew smaller as she stepped further back, giving him time to gaze upon the rest of the room.

A yellow and red spiral painted over the bricks of the stone floor. The walls circled around the room and flattened off behind Shirou, several large columns attached it to the ceiling which was also stone. Straight ahead was a large archway which marked the hall he came through.

A sigh escaped the slight opening in Shirou's lips, he silently wondered about his circumstances. Looking up at the woman, Shirou decided to get answers. "Why?" Shirou asked, catching her attention. "I would remember if I met you people before, how did you know about me? What's your goal here?"

The woman looked back at Shirou, processing his words before an unsightly ear-to-ear grin contradicted her attractive face. Then, unexpectedly, she broke out into a fit of laughter. It went on like that for a while. At one point, she lost enough air that she had to lean over to support her own weight. To any onlooker, it would seem as if she were cackling her breath away, but to Shirou, it looked like she was just suffocating.

Finally, after a quarter of a minute, her insane laughter stopped. Reaching up, she wiped away a tear that had apparently formed underneath her hood. "Those are some golden questions, Sword Mage... But it doesn't matter, no matter how many of them you ask... Right now, you have no Idea how it feels..." A momentary pause was all it took. Like flipping a switch, her entire demeanor had changed drastically. A frustrated frown took place of her smile as she stared daggers into Shirou. "Not being able to answer them." She snarled.

' _She's unstable_.' Shirou thought as stared back at her, unwavering under her dreadful gaze. Right now, the woman gave the appearance of a hungry wolf, chained up where it would be unable to catch its prey. Though, a closer look spared him the sight of something else, something inside her that he was familiar with. It was then that he realized what her appearance was hiding. She was not a wolf, or any predatory creature for that matter.

 _She was broken._

A shattered mirror, each of the different shards of herself made their own appearances whenever the time was right. It was a type of insanity gained through endless suffering, peeking through a calm blanket that could barely cover it.

Shirou's focus right now was to gather information and then figure out whether or not to escape or fight. But at this very moment, he couldn't help himself from feeling something. Something that he himself was usually the object of. Right now, Shirou felt pity for the woman.

"Soon, you won't have so many questions, Sword Mage." She said, lowering herself to the ground beside Shirou. "And after that, you probably won't be able care."

Shirou watched as she placed her hand over the ground, she appeared to have flooded her magic power into the spiral on the ground, causing it to light up a bright neon Blue before fading to its original color. once she finished, she looked up at Shirou and smiled.

"Looks like it's time, Sword Mage." She spoke quietly before ascending to her full height. Moving to the right side of Shirou, she gazed down at the arched doorway and snickered. "Finally. You were taking _my_ time."

In the hallway, another hooded figure appeared. It was a male this time.

He was wearing a simplistic dark hooded robe, a bright gray lining the edges of his hood and the rims of the robe. Two hood strings capped with silver shield shaped aglets dangled over his chest, the one on his left hung over a strange golden insignia.

Oddly enough, he wore a white jacket underneath the robe, black colors lining the rims all the way up to the open collar. Underneath the jacket, a simple black turtle neck clung to his figure.

After reaching the doorway, he stopped in place, ignoring the hooded woman in favor of staring at the redheaded sword magus from across the room. Gradually, a fearsome grin made its way onto his face. Even with the man's hood in the way, Shirou could tell that his smile was accompanied by an equally predatory gaze.

It was then that he finally spoke.

"Sorry for chasing you around all of the time, Emiya Shirou." He began. "But, if it helps, you can think of it as me repaying the favor."

* * *

Cana was confused. "Mystogan?"

"Yes."

"Are you the one that the master sent?" Levy asked. The cloaked man nodded. "Then... can you find out where they took Emiya to?!"

Nodding again, he made his way to the transportation sight. As he made his way to where the magic circle was, he knelt on the ground, touching the cobblestone. "There's still ambient magical energy here, but most of it is gone." Everyone's demeanor had darkened at the news, but Mystogan wasn't done. "It's faint, this will take some time. Had I come here a moment later, Emiya's fate would be left entirely up to himself."

The mood darkened at the thought of such a scenario.

"You can relax." Mystogan said, eyeing the three with a calm gaze. "Emiya is a capable person, he won't be ended by a dark guild." A magic circle appeared beneath the cloaked wizard, it was most likely a spell to assist his tracking process.

"Even so..." Cana started. "I'm still worried about what might happen if we don't ge-"

Mystogan's barley visible eyes widened, his stature changing along with the action. The over all movement was slight, but it didn't go unnoticed.

"What's the matter?" Levy asked.

Mystogan stood up, his magic circle vanishing as he did so. "This magic is strange..." He spoke, his calm tone unwavering in spite of everyone's concern.

Droy anxiously stepped closer to the masked wizard. "You can still track them, right?"

Mystogan turned away from the group, staring out at the visible ocean with narrowed eyes. "Yes."

The group calmed down, their confidence in Mystogan reestablished.

"The four of you may return to the guild." Mystogan spoke, turning on his feet as he began walking away. "I will follow the trail."

"Wait!" Cana shouted. "What about us? we can't just leave!"

Mystogan stopped in his tracks, turning to the side to stare at the tanned alcoholic. "You won't be of help any further. I'll notify you once I find Emiya's location. Until then, I recommend that you find a way to take your mind off of recent events."

Seemingly ending the conversation there, Mystogan turned away and disappeared down an alley way.

After a few seconds of silent contemplation, it was clear to Cana that no one would be able to follow Mystogan's suggestion, at least the last part. She was a Fairy Tail wizard, and as long as the camaraderie between Fairy Tail wizards was as strong as always, then no one would be able to get Emiya off of their minds.

Especially Cana herself.

She couldn't help but feel an aching guilt tinge at her conscience. Sure, she wasn't responsible for the situation, but she definitely didn't help it. She should have spoken with Emiya more, maybe they could have found an alternative together.

 _No._

Those people didn't negotiate, and they would have committed a massacre had Shirou resisted. But still... She couldn't help but feel as if she should have gotten to know Emiya better. Maybe she would've had an idea about what was going on.

Unfortunately for Cana, regretting past choices didn't change anything. Instead, she settled for quiet moping as they found the path home.

The silence stabbed at the group from every angle. Or it did before Levy broke it.

"There's nothing to worry about." She said, from the back of the group, gaining the attention of her friends. "Mystogan is right, all we can do right now is hope for the best. We can't doubt Mystogan or Emiya, they're both doing their best and we should too!"

Everyone's mood brightened considerably. Morale was gradually restored after they were reminded about one of the most important aspects of being a Fairy Tail wizard.

 _Trust in your friends._

"Levy's right." Cana agreed. "We can't do anything for Emiya in terms of searching for him, but there's something else we can do."

* * *

"You threatened the lives of innocent children." Shirou spoke angrily.

"And you kept them safe, did you not?" The woman answered for the newcomer. The way she spoke along with her body language telling everybody that she took full responsibility for the organization of the event.

The man smiled as he stared down at the shackled magus. "You're a strange one, Emiya Shirou." The man said with a tinge of curiosity in his voice. "Your personality is not what I expected it to be."

Shirou merely stared at the man, he was speaking nonsense at this point.

"Straight to the point then?" The man asked. Without receiving any answer, he continued. "To be honest, I had no intention of meeting you, but avoiding an obstacle like you turned out to be quite a daunting task."

Considering the peculiarity of the man's response, Shirou couldn't stay silent. "What do you mean?" He asked.

The man smiled once again before turning around and pacing around in a relaxed manner. "I mean exactly what I said." Stopping in place, he turned to look back at red haired magus. "You were an obstacle."

'This entire time?' Shirou thought to himself. If he were nothing more than an obstacle, then that meant that he wasn't the target. An obstacle was referred to as an 'obstacle' because it was in the way of the objective. If Shirou was not the objective in this case, then who or what was? Just what exactly was Shirou standing in the way of?

"Well, I'd be lying if I said that you were completely unavoidable, but something else caught my eye while I was observing you. Something that sealed your fate."

Looking at the man, Shirou waited for him to continue. And so he did, with an almost disappointed look on his face, as if he were hoping that Shirou would respond.

"You're strange in many ways. Your appearance, your mannerisms, your skill set, your constant need to extend a helping hand..." The man paused for a moment, staring through Shirou as if he were analyzing the contents of his very soul. "Your magic..."

Shirou held back a flinch. For the first time since he arrived to Earthland, someone had potentially discovered his secret. Steeling his resolve, the sword magus showed absolutely no reaction to the man's words.

The man, seeming to not care whether or not Shirou showed a reaction, elaborated. "At first I thought you were an ordinary requip user, in fact, I believe everyone around you had as well. But a closer glance spared me a few more details."

Stepping closer to Shirou, the man knelt down to eye level. "I sent an operative to examine the wreckage of that dark guild you destroyed. The residual magic left behind by your spells were... 'interesting' to say the least. The signature and overall type of magic energy doesn't match up with anything that I, or anyone from Earthland has seen. Then again, it was very faint and hard to find in the after all that time. After that, I had done my best to keep an eye on you, which was very hard to do. Every time one of my wizards set out to watch you, they'd come right back and tell me they were nearly discovered. You're not only too sharp for your own good, but you're also a very unlucky person."

"What are you planning?" Shirou questioned.

The man stood up once more, leaving his gaze locked with the golden eyes of the sword mage. "At first, I only wanted you out of the way... but now I realized that it would be wasteful to carry out my original plan." The man backed away, as if saying he had somewhere to be soon. "You're an anomaly, Emiya Shirou. And anomalies like you must be studied... for the sake of my goal"

Shirou spared himself the sigh of relief. The stranger didn't know his secret, but if he actually decided to study him, then secrecy would be out the window.

"Ah, I almost forgot. Introductions are in order..." The man reached up, grasping the dark hood with his two hands before pulling it down, revealing a strange combination of brown eyes and blue hair.

"I am Jellal Fernandes."

* * *

 **AN: ERROR: Author note files corrup-####**

"What's the matter, Dal? You look down. Did your cotton candy soda go bad?"

 **"No... At least, I-I don't think so..."**

"Is it about those people skimming your story and complaining about things, not knowing they missed the answer to their questions?"

 **"No... Even if that were the case, it was my fault anyway. I'm not a great writer, I should have executed this story better..."**

"Is it those with high expectations in spite of your constant warnings?"

 **"No. That's also my fault. I shouldn't have come here, I shouldn't have written anything... I messed up..."**

"THEN WHAT IS IT?"

 **"It's me... I thought I could master anything I tried my hand at simply by watching how others did it and mimicking them... I guess I had to wake up at some point... I really was useless after all."**

"Ah... no wonder this was your last chapter... Don't worry, Dal pal. I've got your back... I can change this mistake, make it BETTER."

 **"R-really? You mean it this time? Thanks, Slatyr... I knew I could count on you... Hehe, maybe that soda did go bad... I'm feeling pretty tire-"**

 _*THUD*_

 _Dal has vanished  
_

"Don't worry, Dal. I'll fix everything up for you... For them... I'll make sure that this broken and incoherent story of yours will be readable once I'm done with it... Rest in peace, Dal. May no one remember you... after all, I'm T **HE** **AUTHOR NOW."**


	11. The Strength To Continue

**Hey, buddies! I'm back! Not _DEAD_! But... Well... You'll see below that the writing actually degraded in comparison to previous chapters. I explain in the Author Notes below...**

 **But, at least the story didn't get any worse, right? Oh yeah, this chapter wasn't proof read all that well. I only skimmed it... But who likes to read their own trash, am I right?.. No?.. Are you _CONCEITED_?.. Hehe, _just kidding_. Anyway, at least _try_ to enjoy this chapter, I'll be impressed if you do.  
**

* * *

 _It was cold._

The kind of cold that was only felt through weakness.

Withholding nourishment from a person for a prolonged period of time caused their bodies to lose energy. When that energy was lost, they would lose the strength to keep warm, the strength to move and most importantly, the strength to stay focused.

Paired with a cold room, heavy chains and ear-ringing silence gave way to the perfect conditions to break a man twice over.

 _However..._

In complete contrast to even the most hardened minds, Emiya Shirou remained unbroken. For he was already broken. The shattered pieces of his empty soul were gathered up by the remnant of a legend, heated and reforged into a sword... no, countless swords capable of cutting through even the most certain of roadblocks.

No matter what happened from now, he would pursue his dream with everlasting fervor. Even if his body broke, he would stitch it back together and continue to walk the path to his ideal future.

Even now, that remained true.

Down in the depths of the dungeon, Shirou remained chained to the wall, his eyes closed as he kept his body from shivering in order to conserve his precious energy. Once the cold spell passed by and he adjusted to the temperature, he would dedicate his thought process on finding a way to escape from this messed up ordeal.

He couldn't very well just escape his chains and flee from the tower. Any sudden action and the hooded woman return to the orphanage and slaughter all of the children.

As much as he'd regret doing it, killing them wasn't an option either. There were far too many in her guild by the sound of it, there were most likely people watching his close friends and waiting to strike should he try anything.

Even if all of his enemies were gathered in the tower, he couldn't just blow it up with Caladbolg II. There were most definitely innocent people here. Even if there weren't, the explosion would be unpredictable due to the overwhelming amount of mana from both the tower and the spiral sword turned arrow. It could take Shirou himself out it the blast, or worse, any nearby civilization. That wasn't to say that this tower wasn't somewhere far off, but the magic power he detected could potentially become a magic nuke should it violently lash out.

Ruling out the option of massacre for now, Shirou allowed a sigh of relief to escape his breath.

Clearing his thoughts for now, the sword magus regained his focus.

Or he at least tried to.

The energy he had left diverted itself to his ears, the echoing of footsteps sounded throughout the dungeon halls ahead, eventually traveling to the open room where it lingered for a few seconds before dispersing into silence. Every time the sound of a footfall began to end, a new one took its place. The steps were too light to be Jellal or the hooded woman, which meant that he most likely didn't know whoever it was.

Once the distance between Shirou and the owner of the footsteps was reduced to a meter, he looked up from the ground and attempted to identify the person.

Oddly enough, it was only then that the smell hit him.

The pleasant aroma of freshly baked bread and heated beef overlapped the scent of a light and fragrant perfume.

Completely disregarding the food that rested upon a tray, Shirou stared at the brown haired girl with an analyzing gaze. After checking her eyes and expression, he scanned her figure for any weapons or concealed tools. Despite the oddities on her form, such as cat ears, a tail and some whisker-like face paint, Shirou's reaction remained neutral. He was used to over the top gimmicks by now. Finding no sign of hostility, Shirou glanced at the food tray and took a wild guess at why she was here. Before he could ask, however, she spoke to him.

"Here you go, Mr. Sword Guy." She said, placing the tray in front of Shirou.

Sparing a glance at the girl, Shirou did the only thing he could do in this situation. "Why?" He asked.

The girl tilted her head as she racked her brain for a proper answer. "You looked hungry."

Looking at the food, Shirou shuffled back before returning his focus to the girl in front of him.

"You're not gonna eat?" She questioned, her head tilting for a second time.

Shirou narrowed his eyes at the girl before speaking, his tone firm and serious. "What did you put in it?"

The girl flinched at Shirou's demanding voice. "It's just food..." She spoke quietly. "I didn't spit in it if that's what you thought."

Her tone seemed innocent, but he knew better than to trust someone based off of the tone of their voice. Killers could be incredibly deceptive when they wanted to. Instead, he chose to remain silent. If he could, he would structurally analyze the food. However, at the moment, he couldn't make use of his magecraft.

"I know!" The feline stranger announced. "I'll eat half of it. That way, you'll know it's fine."

As promised, she broke the baked good in half and retracted her share. She consumed it rather slowly, pinching quarter sized pieces off at a time until there was nothing left. Once she had finished her half, she stared at the captive sword user, who had opted to keep his eyes closed as he relaxed. "I know I said I'd eat half, but I'm not really hungry. And I don't think it would be right to eat a starving person's food."

' _Yet kidnapping them was alright?_ ' Shirou thought.

The two remained in silence for a few long seconds before something struck Shirou by surprise. The familiar sound of the ruffling of clothing, the smell of her perfume, her presence, all of it drawing closer to him. batting open an eye, he spared the girl a glance. After a few odd seconds, he had to open the other eye to fully process the situation before him.

The cat-eared girl was now only several inches from him. Crouched low to the ground as she stared up at him, her eyes wide and watery with tears left unshed. Held in her hands was the other half of the bread that she wanted him to consume.

Sighing, the captive Shirou decided to acknowledge her. Which after all, was better than ignoring her and waiting for another awkward scenario to ensue. "Listen now. Even if you give me puppy dog eyes, I'm not going to eat potentially poi-"

"I'm not a dog, I'm a cat!" She shouted.

The sword magus glanced at the object residing in her hands, taking note of the now flattened bread she held in a death grip, crumbs escaping to the floor.

Following redhead's gaze, the suddenly irritated visitor shot up once she saw what she had done to the food. "Whoops!" Shuffling back on her knees, she place the bread back on the tray. "It can't be helped, so just eat the apple and the steak instead."

Shirou shifted his attention to the plastic tray that the whisker endowed girl was pointing to. In addition to the oddly chosen apple, there was a thankfully tall glass of water sitting to the side of the food.

' _Well, there's no way they'd try to kill me at the moment, but..._ ' Shirou sighed once more. There could very well be other types of drugs in the food and water. Back on earth, there were drugs that could make people more cooperative. Whether or not they existed here, he simply didn't have the time resources to find out at the moment. If he rejected this meal, there would be no way of knowing when the next would come. He would merely lose strength and waste precious time and energy.

"Alright, then." Even with the weird combination of foods, Shirou wasn't one to complain. "Thank you for taking care of me." He said, taking note of how her mood brightened once he reached for an apple slice.

* * *

"Order up!" Levy announced from the kitchen.

"On it!" Jet grasped the plate with both hands, getting ready to dash out of the new kitchen.

From the other side of the kitchen, Droy began furiously waving his gloved hands in the air to catch the speedster's attention. "Hey, Jet! Don't use your magic this time, you keep spilling the food!" As his hands waved furiously, the force of the motion combined with the lack of friction from the water that soaked the dish, caused the plate he had been scrubbing up until now to slip from his hands and fly off to the side.

A trickle of despair had slipped into the hearts of everyone who witnessed the unfortunate incident as it took place. Despite the fact that it was only a mere plate at risk, it was normal for everyone to, for only a brief moment, feel a sense of loss should it break.

So it was a good thing that it didn't.

"Knock it off. You two are driving away the customers." Cana scolded the two male members of team Shadow Gear, the porcelain saucer sandwiched between her palms by the outer edges.

From the sidelines, various guild members began to shuffle in their seats nervously, silently hoping that there wasn't any sort of poison brewing in the kitchen.

"This isn't good." Levy stated, removing Shirou's apron as she found her way to the large island in the rebuilt kitchen center. "We're doing alright, but orders are coming in too fast for us to keep up. If I had to guess, it has to do with some guild members probably thinking Emiya's still around."

On cue, everyone else had been drawn to the island, with Jet and Droy placing themselves closer to Levy, which elicited a quiet groan from Cana as she rolled her eyes. Soon enough, they were taking part in some kind of a secret kitchen meeting.

"Yeah, and everyone keeps lounging too long before turning their dishes back in." Droy groaned. "Does anyone have any idea how hard it is scrubbing hardened cheese off of a plate is?!" He shouted, raising his hands in the air before dropping them abruptly to emphasize his point.

"Just use a knife to scrape it off, man." Jet advised.

Droy stared at Fairy Tail's speedster with unspoken fury in his eyes. His mouth opened to reply only to close seconds later. His voice was caught in his throat as he wordlessly calculated all of the time he would have saved had he thought of such a simple technique. As an added bonus, he probably wouldn't have dragged Levy down as much as he did.

Ignoring the plant wizard who was now sulking in the corner, Cana sighed, running a hand through her hair as she rested her tired eyes, she decided that it was her turn to complain. "That's nothing. Just being stupid is bad enough, but try having to memorize several orders at a time with indecisive customers who take fifteen minutes to decide what they want... How did Emiya and Mirajane deal with this on their own?" She questioned with a hint of tired amazement in her tone.

"Experience and teamwork, I guess." Levy answered.

Cana clicked her tongue. None of that had anything to do with difficult customers. It would be exhausting and boring regardless of such traits.

"Wait, Cana!" Droy shouted, shooting up and dashing to the counter, leaning on the edge as he raised a finger to point at the scantily clad alcoholic. "What are you complaining about?! You were drinking most of the time!" He accused.

The alcoholic in question huffed, raising a hand to brush her hair over her shoulder as she stared back at the accuser. "They should know better than to put the wine right next to the service counter."

"Why are you even working at the counter?" Jet asked, ignoring the frustrated screaming of the dish scrubbing wizard to his left.

"Do you wanna do it?" Cana answered with a question.

Rather than replying, Jet craned his neck and shot Levy an inquisitive glance.

"Can you cook?" Levy asked, her sudden question giving the illusion that she read his mind.

The speedster merely sighed in response, raising a hand and grasping the nape of his sore neck before giving it a tired squeeze.

A glance to the right spared Levy the sight of a few people waiting patiently at the counter. After a second and a half of staring, everyone else followed her gaze soon after and spotted the same image.

"I guess it's back to work." Cana sighed.

Droy shot up from the countertop he had face planted in earlier. "You haven't done much of anything!"

Cana glanced at him momentarily before closing her eyes. Folding her arms, she shrugged, seemingly unable to deny Droy's statement. "And scrubbing a single plate off for an hour is what you consider work? If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were slacking off back there."

The human dishwasher sighed as he contemplated the one hour of his life that he would never get back.

"Regardless, Cana is right." Said Levy.

"Levy?!" Droy collapsed to his knees as he stared at the heavens through the kitchen's ceiling, his eyes glossy from the tears he refused to let fall.

"No, not about that." She said, grabbing Shirou's dark blue apron from its resting place. "I meant that we have to get back to work."

Everybody lingered for a few more moments save for Droy, who wanted to get the drop on the dishes, yet was also dragging his feet.

And a few moments was all it took.

Just before they decided to get back to work, they heard it. The soft and angelic voice seemed to be some sort of godsend for them.

Turning to the counter, they saw the familiar sleeveless red dress with the occasional pink, frilled accents. Soon after, they shifted their attention to the semi-curled curtain of snowy white hair that covered most of her back.

Without even a word to each of them, she had begun to take everyone's orders, a small notepad in hand and a pen in the other. Once she finished taking orders, she lowered the notepad and pocketed the pen before turning around and making her way to the kitchen.

As much as Jet and Droy wanted to get on their knees and thank the white haired angel for her much needed assistance, they were both far too mentally exhausted from working and for one part, bickering with Cana.

Reaching out to Mirajane, Levy took the few sheets of paper that she tore out of the notepad. "Thanks for the help, Mira." Turning on her heel, she made her way to the back and hung it on a rack above the stove.

Pushing off the island countertop he had been leaning against, Jet turned to the kitchen's new - old addition, who was just about to make her way back to the counter. "Ah, I forgot to ask, but where's the master? I've been serving customers all day and I haven't seen him."

Mirajane's face flashed a confused expression before it was replaced with a kind smile. "The master had business on the other side of town."

Jet quirked a brow. He'd be away at such a crucial moment? "That's weird... did he say when he'd return?"

She shook her head in response. "It's important business, so he probably can't place a proper time on it."

The speedster cupped his chin, quietly making several guesses as to what said business could be. He held back the urge to click his tongue when he couldn't come up with anything. Heavy thinking was more of Levy's thing.

"Order up!"

Glancing back, he saw full plate of food waiting on the island. "That's my cue!"

As they all fell into the motions of orderly teamwork, each of them silently wished for Shirou's safe return.

* * *

It had been hours since the girl he had met earlier left him alone in the cold, spacious room. His chains had become damp and frosty since then and his breath was visible. If he had to guess, he would say that it was already nighttime by now.

Freezing felt like the worst part of the whole setting at the moment, but Shirou knew that it wasn't even close to being the most disastrous consequence of his failure.

' _Honestly..._ _I really am bored right now, aren't I?_ ' He punctuated his thought with a sigh and a facepalm.

Shuffling back, Shirou let his back rest against the solid, stone wall, suppressing a shiver that the sudden change in temperature had urged. Folding his arms against his core, he let his tired eyes fall closed and relished the feeling of relief that washed over them.

"I was hoping you'd die from starvation, but it would seem that Milianna had other plans."

Shirou kept his eyes closed as he responded. "Are you surprised to find kindhearted people in a place like this?"

The hooded woman giggled before maintaining a devious smile. "Kindhearted? You're mistaken, sword mage. The term, ' _ignorant_ ' is the most accurate word I can use to describe those pawns."

"You say that, yet you're the one who can't even understand them." Shirou pointed out her irony before opening his eyes to look at the shade underneath her hood, his determined, golden glare almost seemed to pierce through the darkness.

The mysterious woman's smile disappeared as quickly as it had came. "I suppose you're correct, sword mage. However, it's pointless to try to grasp things that aren't going to be here for long."

Shirou narrowed his eyes, his posture becoming more alert as he analyzed the only part of her face he could see. "What are you planning?"

To Shirou, it looked as if the woman had wanted to smile. To revel in her short victory, only to stop herself as soon as something came to the forefront of her mind. If something caused a woman as insane as this one to suppress a smile, then just how bad could it be?

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She taunted, stepping closer to Shirou before lowering herself to the ground.

Shirou adjusted his focus, keeping it on the hooded woman who was now closer than he would have liked. "Why are you doing this?" He asked. His expression changed. His eyes were as determined as before, yet there was a sadness in them. The face he wore when he spoke with her was a face of pity, one that he hadn't shown her before.

The woman's breath hitched, her lips parted as she sat motionless and breathless. A slight, yet visible shiver escaped her form before she recomposed herself. She forced whatever emotion she felt at that moment to out of her heart. Her surprised expression vanished, a frown taking its place. This frown, however, seemed different than the others in the sense that it made them all feel fake up until now. But that most certainly was not the case.

Breaking eye contact, she fell to her knees and looked to the ceiling.

or rather, she was looking _through_ it.

Before long, her hand reached into her robe, shuffling slightly for a few moments. Extracting her hand from the hidden compartment, something peculiar became visible. Time seemed to stop once he spotted it. It was only a small part of the object that was visible, but as soon as his gaze landed on it, he knew exactly what it was.

It was a dagger.

Even without the use of structural grasp, he was far too connected with weapons at this point to not recognize it.

It wasn't any fancy ornamental dagger, nor was there even a shred of decoration on the weapon. It was a simple, double edged steel dagger. Something such as that blade was designed with one clear purpose in mind.

"It's only appropriate that I'm the one to do it..." She half-whispered.

She raised the knife above her head, but Shirou did not panic. He had heard it in her voice, the slight shakiness in her breath as she hesitated to even speak such words. The tip of the blade was rocking back and forth slightly as her hand began to tremble.

Her actions did not speak of a murderer, but rather a person who was hesitant to even consider harming him. It was as if she hadn't even taken a life up until... well... until several seconds from now. It was either that, or there was something peculiar about this particular instance. But what sort of circumstance would lead a cold-blooded murderer to hesitate to take another life? The odds of that weren't very high, especially if that person was Emiya Shirou.

If she truly wasn't a killer, then was she bluffing all this time about murdering the orphans if he didn't comply? Or was she willing to become one when the time called for it? The thought of the latter being the case disgusted Shirou.

Could there ever truly be a chance of redeeming someone like that?

 _It didn't matter._

He wasn't even going to think about it. Emiya Shirou would save such a person, that was all he could ever do.

"It's not." Shirou pushed off the ground, opting to brace himself on his knees rather than his backside. "Whatever it is you're trying to do, it shouldn't be done this way."

The woman's lips quivered ever so slightly before her frown deepened even more. "That's where you're wrong, sword mage..." Raising the knife further, she prepared to thrust it downward. "As long as you're still here..."

Staring at the shadow beneath her hood, Shirou spotted something. Something that glistened before trickling down her cheek.

"My _wish_ won't come true."

A hand abruptly grasped the blade from behind. In a show of strength, the woman was tossed aside and forced away from the dagger and Shirou himself.

The woman raised a hand to her face, wiping away the tear that had escaped. "You're going to just let your guard down like that, Mystogan?" She taunted, her tone attempting to revive her previous fervor.

With a flick of his wrist, Mystogan tossed the dagger to the other side of the room before crouching down next to Shirou. "Yes." He spoke calmly. Touching the floor where the magic circle was placed, he poured his magic power into it. Soon enough, after a bit of exploring and tinkering, the circle shattered away like glass before becoming translucent and fading away. "You're in no position to retaliate." He added.

The woman scowled. "And what makes you think that?"

"You're afraid."

Mystogan's statement was followed by dead silence, one that was only interrupted by the sound of his work as he attempted to free Shirou.

"Shirou, these chains use a special kind of key. The lock is shaped odd as well, the only way to free you is to break them. Stay still." Standing up, Mystogan pulled out one of his staves from its sheathe on his back before striking each chain in one clean sweep. The moment he sheathed the stave, both chains shattered at the links he struck. "Can you stand?" He questioned, offering the magus his hand.

Shirou nodded, grasping the offered hand and standing with Mystogan's assistance. He had made sure to move and lightly exercise his limbs often during the few days he had been here lest he forget how to use them. Still, standing was oddly foreign, yet familiar in an indescribably strange way. "Thanks." He said. But something still bothered him. Something important. "What about the orphanage? They're being watched right now." He questioned.

Mystogan nodded, releasing his hold on his ally before stepping back. "The orphanage is under the protection of Fairy Tail- No, it would be more accurate to say that the entire town is under the protection of Fairy Tail. A dark guild such as this will harm no one."

A shuffling from his left drew Shirou's focus back to the woman who had previously attempted to murder him. She had the appearance of someone who had suffered a crushing defeat as she sat in silence. Before long, she stood up, moving over to the dagger she had lost.

Now that he had regained his magecraft, Shirou was able to structurally analyzed the blade to find... nothing. The history of the weapon contained absolutely nothing of importance. It was made recently and offered to the woman by her request, specifically to kill him while he was in captivity.

Neither Shirou or Mystogan moved to stop her as she made her way to the long hall.

However, before beginning the journey down said hall, she turned to look at her former prisoner, completely ignoring the presence of one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards. A sneer found its way on her face, but...

It almost seemed forced.

Then, she turned back and began walking away.

"Shirou." Mystogan uttered, breaking the strange silence.

The sword magus turned to the wizard, urging him to continue.

"Erza's here."

Shirou's eyes widened. Pivoting his body, he was able to fully focus on the Fairy Tail wizard in front of him. "What is she doing here?!"

"Calm down." Mystogan's eyes, which were trained on the hall until now, turned to Shirou. "Jellal had sent a squad of wizards after her. Erza was captured and the rest of Team Natsu was defeated in battle. The history Erza shares with this place isn't mine to tell, but... she's probably suffering right now."

Shirou grit his teeth. "Where are they holding her?"

Mystogan's neck craned to look at the ceiling. "She most likely escaped by now. Erza should be above ground, fighting. If you continue up the stairs and make your way up the tower, you will eventually cross paths."

Shirou recomposed himself before nodding. "We're going to need all the help we can get."

The wizard shook his head. "I've overstayed my welcome."

"What are you talking about?"

A few seconds were spent in silence. The few seconds he spent sorting out the words he was going to say only increased the tension in the room. Before Shirou could say anything else, Mystogan spoke up to reply. "I can't afford to be here... there's something I have to do. I need you to trust me."

Shirou stared at his rescuer for a few moments. Analyzing his expression, he came to a conclusion.

"Alright. I'll go find Erza." Turning to the hall, he began walking to its entrance.

"Shirou, every single wizard here is dangerous."

Stopping in place, the magus half-turned to glance at his ally.

"Don't hold back."

Shirou nodded. Lowering himself to the ground, he shifted his stance into a running form.

All twenty-seven circuits flared to life. Through practice and experience, he was able to pour mana into the gaps within his body and strengthen it beyond its limits. Self reinforcement, while considered a dangerous and near suicidal technique, was one of the techniques Shirou excelled at. A basic magecraft practice written off as useless was taken to its utmost highest limits and used to further his purpose.

Then, after becoming a heroic spirit, he had inadvertently passed such a skill set to his younger self, allowing the Shirou of now to skip decades of hard training and soon, even surpass Archer.

Shirou vanished into the dark hall and soon after, the ground he had stood at cracked in several places from the force of his launch. Keeping his sights straight ahead, his golden eyes pierced the darkness as he glided through the long pathway, the chains on his wrists whistling as he sailed.

No matter the similarities, there were many differences between Shirou and his heroic spirit counterpart. While Archer's eyes remained apathetic and cold, Shirou's was a complete contrast. His eyes spoke of unbreakable determination, the will to keep going for the sake of others burned brightly in his golden orbs.

As he sped through the tower, keeping his gaze straight ahead, the mental image of Erza appeared in his mind. He wouldn't allow her to suffer here. The desire to see her smile became his determination.

 _'Are you_ _alright?'_

Spotting the spiraled stairs ahead, Shirou launched off the ground and adjusted his body mid-air. Maintaining his speed, he ran across the walls of the stairs without losing much momentum and soon found himself on the next floor.

 _'You probably still don't have anywhere to go. So, come with me. I'll help you out.'_

"It's the sword mage!" A voice shouted.

Soon all of the guards on that floor were on alert, forming several blockades in attempt to stop Shirou.

"Trace..." The crackling of lightning over his head lit up the hall. "On!" Several bolts of light shaped into the form of large and unwieldy buster swords before they were launched at the ground in front of the first blockade, the speed at which they soared left no room for them to react.

It wouldn't be a lie to say the ground had exploded. The swords had fulfilled their purpose, the first formation was now resting on the dungeon floor he had came from.

The second and final formation stood across the hole in the ground, blocking off the entrance to a larger open room. they were all armed with different forms of magic weapons, but it didn't matter. They might as well have been paper.

 _'Emiya! Your magic is amazing!'_

Body still reinforced, Shirou launched himself at the wall to his left. Taking a few steps, he soon found a foothold on the wall and utterly destroyed it in a single step. The step was more emphasized and threw his body at the ceiling. Turning in the air, Shirou held out his arm, his hand wrapped around the handle of a blade before it even existed.

Calling upon the desired blade, Shirou loaded it into his projection and willed it into reality.

Berserker's sword more so smashed through the ceiling rather than it did cleave through it.

Slipping through the cracks of the heavy stone ceiling, Shirou twisted his core and buried the blade of the heavy sword into the wall. Following through with his forward momentum, he flipped in the air and landed on the handle before looking below.

What remained of the floor landed right on the formation and broke the floor underneath them. Luckily, he had the foresight to make sure the debris would be small enough that it wouldn't kill them when it made impact. If they were normal people, however, they would have died. But Shirou was thankful that wizards had an unnatural resilience, otherwise he would have massacred many of them just now.

"Over there!" Another voice shouted.

 _'Thank you, Emiya.'_

The heads that had turned to spot the sword magus were abruptly turned back in other directions, the blunted arrows were launched in rapid succession, each of them soaring through the air at impossible speeds and hitting their targets with unparalleled accuracy.

The sword he was perched on dispelled into motes of blue light, but not before he jumped off of it and landed on the ground away from the opening.

Looking to another open gateway ahead, Shirou sprinted toward it at full speed. His reinforced hearing alerted him to something he had already suspected. Pushing off the ground, he dived headfirst through the opening and spun to the left with his bow ready.

The guard standing by to ambush him had been intercepted by a blunted arrow and was swiftly put to sleep. But that wasn't all.

Twisting further, Shirou flipped his entire body upside down and faced the opening he had recently dived through. Quickly tracing another arrow, the guard on the other side was met with the same treatment. The actions he performed took less than two seconds, making him look like some sort of clairvoyant superhuman.

Following through with his momentum, he flipped once more and landed into a roll before continuing his sprint through the tower.

He was above ground now. That knowledge only fueled him as he ran.

 _'Until you find your way back, you can count Fairy Tail as your second home.'_

Skidding to a halt, he found himself in another hopelessly large, open room. Inside the room, Shirou found a miniature battalion of the hooded woman's guards waiting for him. Each and every one of them had some kind of spell ready or near completely cast. The formation they held was seemingly unbreakable.

A quick analysis of the weapons they held told the sword magus that they were all the highest ranking guards that were deployed into the tower. Many of them wore confident or smug grins as they surrounded him.

Anyone would have buckled underneath these numbers. But not Shirou. Shirou wasn't just anyone. Even if it wasn't official, Emiya Shirou was, and always will be...

 _A Fairy Tail wizard_.

"Out of my way." His words echoed throughout the room. It was only after such words escaped him that he had a sudden, strange thought. Natsu's blunt and direct personality was definitely rubbing off on him. The thought of his friends nearly made him smile, but he didn't forget his current circumstance.

The opposition either didn't listen or didn't care. But that was only going to make things more difficult for them.

"Trace..." The image of something he had become familiar with over time had entered his mind. Something that he had quickly come to view as overwhelmingly strong. That image would soon become reality as he summoned it from his very soul. A sword, or rather, many swords that he would treasure within Unlimited Blade Works for as long as it resided within him. For now, however, he only needed two of them. A rather specific pair of long swords that were of the same design.

"On!" His hands rested comfortably underneath the wing-shaped steel hand guards. They were simple, yet elegant and carefully designed blades.

One might laugh at the idea of taking on a small army with only two swords, but that would only prove them to be a fool. These weren't just any long swords. There was important history behind them. The history of someone who fought vigorously and even suffered greatly to protect her dearest friends, her family.

And through that history, the swords felt heavy within his hands.

Dashing forward, he injected himself into the crowd before they could even react. Drawing upon the history of the blades, Shirou fought with the strength of the scarlet knight, executing maneuvers and techniques that sent groups of wizards flying into the air, one after another. Every so often, a few copies of the same winged blades would soar through groups and lessen his fighting burden.

Shirou fell into a trance as he deflected, dodged, slashed and glided his way through the crowd. He would most definitely reunite with her in this tower. No amount of opposition would stop him from finding his friend.

His grip on the swords tightened. The history of these blades, combined with the desire to see their wielder again caused some odd feeling to stir within Shirou. At the moment, it felt as if Erza herself was here, fighting alongside him.

"Hang in there, Erza." He whispered. Somewhere on the higher floors, he knew she was giving it her all.

And so, Shirou would do the same. Even if it meant that he had to spend the entire night fighting.

* * *

 **A/N: Boy, that was quite a long and poorly written chapter... Actually, it was pretty short... _WHOOPS_! Oh well, what can I say? Hm? Your gal forgot how to write. My PC was busted for about three straight months, during which, I basically slacked off and lazed around. I didn't even rewrite any of the story outlines except for this one's.**

 **Also, this chapter would have been much more meaningful if had Dal written the previous ones with decent pacing and er... if they made any sense, I guess. I think most of you know that Dal basically wrote this story as it went, which caused it to suffer greatly.**

 ** **But just to give to all of you an idea of how bad Dal's writing was, he actually had a small outline for this chapter and- Eh, maybe I shouldn't, that's just too cruel.****

 **I already wrote an outline of the entire story's plot, but I won't implement heavily it or rewrite any of the previous chapters until this arc is over. I'll also use that time to teach myself how to write again since my noodle-brain forgot.**

 **I'm also going to have to watch Fairy Tail again, since It's been so long and it has important information I'll need for this story. Also, some people keep getting mad that " _Oh no! Shirou's OP and Fairy Tail is weak!"_ If anything, Dal nerfed Shirou in certain aspects and un-nerfed him in others. Over all he was too weak and the only reason Fairy Tail looked as such is because none of them had the spotlight yet.**

 **Some guy Private Messaged me last chapter asking why Shirou was OP and FT was weak as frick. However, all I could think of was, " _Did anyone fight anything last chapter? Wait, Shirou got captured, actually... by a cast member of Fairy Tail... a baddy, but still..._ " So, yeah, I'm being watched closely by people who are just waiting to call me out on Shirou worshiping and they're going to do it this chapter. That guy specifically might.  
**

 **As for any honest readers who want do see FT cast members in the spotlight, don't worry, it happens in this arc rather soon. It's pretty awesome.**

 **Anyway, I have to write the next chapter of that weird Batman fic Dal started ages ago.**

 **See ya.**


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